Switched
by actionfactionfictionfan
Summary: What happens when six super teens swap lives, backgrounds, abilities, and powers? Atlantis gets more than it bargained for, Cheshire gets a brother, and Red Tornado has no idea what's going on. There's a Lord of Chaos cackling madly somewhere... Summary revised.
1. Why Are They Fighting?

"You could've warned me!" Robin glances momentarily away from his opponent to glance at the speaker. "You're supposed to know whether or not an alarm will go off you open the door! That's why you're the tech guy!"

"Well, maybe if you hadn't been distracting me, I'd have noticed the alarm system hooked up to the mechanism!" Robin shot back, dodging a blow from a ninja with a face mask. "But noooo! You've got to jabber about every single stinking thing that runs through your head!"

"Yeah, Kid Idiot!" Robin didn't have to look up to know that Artemis was talking between shots. "You're such a blabbermouth! Just shut your trap for once!"

On the opposite side of the room, Kid Flash tensed visibly in anger before furiously lashing out at his opponent. "You try living with a brain that goes as fast as mine for one day, Artemis, I dare you, and I swear you'll talk ten times as much as I do! And this isn't even about you! This is me and Rob. If you want to criticize someone, maybe you should point to yourself! After all, it sure wasn't me who shot a ROBOT with laughing gas and expected it to have an effect!"

"I thought it was a person!" Artemis fumed. "Just shut up, you jerk!"

"Who you calling jerk?" Superboy's head whipped around to look at the blond before he smashed his fist into a robot's head. "If you'd have just done the stupid mind link with M'gann before we left the bioship, we wouldn't have had to come rescue you from your own mess!"

"Stupid mind link?" M'gann's voice sounded uncharacteristically angry as she used telepathy to smash two ninjas' heads together, effectively knocking them out. "Strange how my mind link isn't stupid when you need us to come save your butt!"

"There is no need for this kind of argument during a battle," Aqualad said decidedly in his "leader" voice. "We must keep focus and work together as a team."

"Some team!" Kid Flash snarled. "You made us walk into a trap, fish head!"

"Kid Flash, this is not the time to-"

"I disagree with you one hundred percent," Robin hissed, tapping his holographic computer screen and sounding annoyed. "Don't put off until tomorrow what you do today, you always say?"

"Robin, you know as well as I that is neither the correct time nor the correct place to argue about such petty mishaps. Everyone makes mistakes.'

"Maybe so, but that doesn't mean that everyone should get a free pass for their mistakes." Robin's glare is aimed at both Superboy and Kid Flash through the mask.

Aqualad was starting to feel desperate. He had to call it. There were so many opponents, and they showed no sign of their numbers dwindling. They had to get out of the warehouse.

"We are withdrawing into a tactical retreat!" He grabbed Robin by the arm, but the younger boy yanked it away again.

"We're leaving?" His voice sounded demanding. "I don't back down from a fight, got it?

"I am your leader," the Atlantean replied quickly. "I am ordering a retreat! Now!"

Robin's eyebrows went up under the mask,but he scowled and took off out of the building. Superboy followed, with Artemis close behind, still shooting arrows. M'gann and Kid Flash went after them, still seething. Aqualad zapped one more crony before hurriedly making an exit.

Minutes later, they were all flying away in the bioship. Robin refused to make eye contact. M'gann stared out the window. Kid Flash didn't speak. Superboy stared at the wall. Artemis tucked her knees to her chest and ignored the world around her. And Aqualad wondered exactly how a simple recon could end so badly.

They arrived at Mount Justice at about three in the morning. It was an unspoken rule that if the mission took too long, Batman, Black Canary, and Red Tornado would ask for mission details in the morning. But the world's greatest detective couldn't help but notice that there was a lack of "good-nights" among the members. And no end to the knife-like glares that shot from their eyes. Batman was suddenly very grateful that Superboy hadn't inherited laser vision from Superman.

"Something happened on their mission tonight," Black Canary said, giving Batman a pointed stare, "and they have not been getting along recently."

"Looks like one person finally snapped and it all went downhill."

"They have not been themselves as of late." Red Tornado's metal feet clanked softly against the floor. "But I have considered the possibilities, and I believe that if this goes on much longer, the team will be in a great deal of trouble."

"We've got to try to reteach them to be a team."

"How?"

"Martian Manhunter, of course."

The next morning, Aqualad entered the training room and was a little surprised to see that the rest of the team was already there and waiting. Aqualad blinked. "Did i... uh... miss the memo?"

"No." Batman stepped out of the shadows in the far corner and approached slowly, like he had all the time in the world.

"We have come up with a new training system," Batman addressed the team. "We are going to send your subconscious mind into an alternate universe that J'honn has already created in his mind."

M'gann shrunk backwards. "Thought we had a bad experience with that?"

"It is different this time," Martian Manhunter told her. "It is not a setting in which you can take control, M'gann."

"Sure, unless Wally manages to find a day to mess that up, too." Artemis growled. She received a glare from the speedster, but she ignored him with a self-satisfied smirk.

"We are sending you into an alternate reality where you will learn to respect and honor each other," Black Canary cut in, seeing the two teens' interaction.

"A word of advice," Batman suggested gruffly. "Learn quick."

Wally blinked when he suddenly felt dizzy. His vision blurred mind-numbingly, and it was all he could do to keep from falling over. He closed his eyes, trying to make the world stop spinning. Then someone yelled in his ear.

Wally sat up from his new position on the floor and rubbed his head with a groan. Black Canary was looking at him worriedly. "What happened?" Wally asked, trying to ignore the thumping headache that wasn't there a few moments before.

"We tried to send you to the alternate reality. But something happened. You never actually entered the state of mind necessary for the journey. You all just passed out."

Wally glanced around. His teammates were scattered around the room. Robin sat on the ground nearby, rubbing his head and muttering angrily. Kaldur was pacing anxiously between Robin and Superboy. Superboy leaned against the wall and scowled. Artemis sat in a chair and rubbed her temples. And M'gann was speaking animatedly to her uncle.

"You had nothing to do with what happened," J'honn reassured. "It was entirely my own fault. I did not have the alternate reality thoroughly mapped out in my head. Nothing would have happened either way. Everyone will be fine."

"I'll bet Wally had something to do with this!" Artemis announced suddenly. The room froze.

"Why do you say that?" M'gann asked slowly.

"Because he messes everything up," the archer replied quickly. "I'll bet that he did something."

Wally's ears burned as Superboy frowned. "How could Wally mess with Martian Manhunter's head?" Superboy snarled. "If he did, how would you know unless you helped him?"

"That's stupid," Robin interjected quickly.

Artemis whirled. "You're stupid!"

M'gann frowned. "This is ridiculous! How would Wally and Artemis possibly mess with Uncle J'honn's mind? And Robin isn't stupid!"

"M'gann, this doesn't concern you! Stay out of it!" Artemis strode over to Wally and poked him in the chest. "I don't know what you did or how you did it, but I know you're responsible for this!"

Wally West felt hatred boiling in his body. "Listen, Artemis. I don't know what fairy-tale world you came from that you think you own the world, but you don't. Get that straight!"

"You're no better, Wallace," Superboy snapped. "Maybe I did come out of a test tube, but I know for a fact that we can't all have your fantasy life."

"Some fantasy!" Robin spat. "Maybe you think life is all sunshine and roses for us,but you didn't have any tougher than we did!"

"ENOUGH!" All six teens froze and stared at the homicidal Batman and his Bat-glare. "All of you, to your rooms. Now."

"Guess we know what happened last night," Black Canary remarked as the teen disappeared from the room.

"I do not understand what happened," Martian Manhunter said aloud. "The alternate reality was flawless. It should have worked."

"I suppose a new plan is in order?"

But to her surprise, Batman didn't answer. Instead, he blinked behind his cowl and said, "Perhaps not."

Meanwhile, Kaldur lay on his bed and tried to make sense of it all. His team had just suddenly begun fighting over everything. At first, it was only Wally and Artemis. Then Superboy started putting his two cents on occasion. Robin made a crude remark from time to time. Someone insulted Miss Martian, and suddenly, his companions were enemies. He wished he could go back to Atlantis at times like these, times when he just wanted to leave his life on the surface and take to the air.

He wondered what it was like to fly.

Robin kicked his bedpost. It hurt. But his anger made him worse somehow. He felt so hot. So angry. So hot. He wanted to cool off a little. Maybe swimming? No, it was too late. He had gotten angry instead, and was now locked in his room with nothing but his own fiery, raging self. He wished he was in the ocean.

Wally hated Artemis. He wanted to take her bow and snap in half over his knee. Then it occurred to him that he had never actually touched Artemis' bow. He wondered if he could break it with his bare hands.

Superboy wished he cold be calm and unconcerned like Kaldur. He wanted to be the opposite of who he was. Someone sweet, kind, caring, gentle, and happy. Someone like M'gann.

Artemis wished she was fast. Fast enough to torment Wally for everything he annoyed her with and about. What was it like to be that fast? It had to be mind-boggling. She wondered if should could ever that fast.

M'gann found herself crying. She hated crying. Crying was weak. She wanted to be strong. Hard. Sometimes, even unfeeling. Because every time her heart breaks, she isn't strong, and she hates it. Why can't she be strong?

As the teens slept, a gentle rumble came from beneath the ground. No one felt it at the moment. But it was about to change them forever. It would make them a real team. For real.


	2. Girl Who and Sparrow

**Hello everyone! Here is chapter two, but first I want to say hi to all my reviewers-this is so exciting! I have a total of 2 favs and 7 follows from the FIRST CHAPTER! Allow me a silent moment to revel in my joy...**

**RedScotch444: thanks for the advice! Yeah, I know they're a little OOC. But they're all pretty stressed and angry, even M'gann. I figured, Robin and KF are BFFs; when they do fight, it'll be pretty ugly. Thanks for taking the time to give me the advice!**

**L.T.A.15: thanks for the support! This will be my first full-length fic, so it means a lot that I have your encouragement. **

**PhantomRobin: thanks for the review, I'm super pleased that you're a fan!**

**S. S. Pie: Wow. Good guess. I gotta be more subtle. Thanks for the support! I'm really glad you like it!**

**Forgot to put in the disclaimer last chapter- Acty does not own Young Justice or any related characters. I own the idea and a lot of OOC-ness. My sincerest apologies.**

**Anyone know how to reply to reviews through the site so that I don't have such a long authors note next time?**

**TO THE STORY!**

Artemis groaned as she sat up. She had a headache, her eyes burned, and her whole body ached. But she wasn't sure why, and this set her on alert at once. She tried to remember the last thing that had happened to her. There had been no missions as of late where anyone had gotten particularly hurt, and she had felt fine the night before as she went to bed, so she wasn't sick. This made her wary. Sore and achy for no apparent reason... that was never good.

She forced her tired eyes open, and instantly gasped in horror.

This was not her own bedroom.

Yes, it was A bedroom, a real one, with a bed and furniture. But it was brightly lit, unlike her room in Gotham. The walls were not a dirty off-white, but yellow, sunshine-bright, hurt your eyes yellow. And the green-brown carpet was ruby red. Whoever designed this bedroom had a terrible idea of color schemes. Artemis sat back and tried not to hyperventilate. That's when she noticed all the merchandise around her- Flash merchandise.

Flash alarm clock. Flash backpack. A couple of Flash T-shirts. Flash lamp. Artemis could continue, but she was getting an even worse headache than before.

Wally. Wally did this.

"I am going to kill him," she decided. She reached out to grab her bow from the bedside table as she began to think. Her fingers searched the table blindly. Wally must have snuck into her bedroom at the Cave and switched out all of her stuff with Flash merchandise. Of course, it wasn't unlike him to pull such a stupid stunt. Artemis wasn't even all that upset about it. But after some of the stuff he had tried recently, someone had to teach him a lesson. And Artemis's fingers were itching to wrap around the idiot's throat.

After searching the table with her fingertips for quite some time, Artemis still hadn't found her bow. She glanced over and instantly gasped.

Her bow was gone. In its place lay a pair of bright red goggles not unlike Wally's.

Oh, he was so dead.

"Wallace Rudolph West!" she screamed, utilizing the fact that Robin had told her his middle name two weeks previously to embarrass the redhead. "Where is he?"

Instantly, the door burst open. Artemis was shocked when a tall, muscular blond man appeared, looking worried.

"Arty?" he asked quickly. "Arty, are you okay?"

Artemis blinked. "How do you know my name?" She subconsciously reached for her bow again, gritting her teeth when she realized she was completely unarmed except for her fists.

The man blinked back at her. "What do you mean?" he asked. "It's me, your uncle. Barry Allen."

"I don't know anyone named Barry Allen," she hissed while mentally calculating her chances against him. He was strong, and probably fast. If she attacked strategically, she could take him by surprise long enough to escape. She had about a three second window to jump out of the bed, knock the guy on the head, and escape.

Now!

Exactly as she had planned, she jumped up and made a move for the partially blocked doorway. But then she... ran into the wall. "Ow."

The blond man frowned as he peeled her off the doorpost. "What have your aunt and I told you about speed-running in the house, Arty?"

"Speed-running? But that's Wally. Wally has the super-speed. What happened?" A million questions ran through her mind, but the man's next reply answered it all.

"Artemis, you're a superhero. With super-speed. Your name is Girl Flash. And I'm your Uncle Barry. Barry Allen. I'm the Flash."

Artemis blinked as a heavy silence filled the room. "Can I murder Wally yet?"

Barry Allen shifted uncomfortably. "Likely not. You don't know anyone named Wally. I don't, either."

"Wally. Wally West. He's your nephew."

"I don't have a nephew."

"You know what? This is a great joke and all, but I have to get ready for school."

Barry Allen rubbed the back of his neck. "Maybe you should stay home from school today."

Artemis tried not to roll her eyes. "Why? There's nothing wrong with me. There will be something wrong with Wally's face by the time I'm through with him, though."

The man's face started scrunching up. "Let me try again. Your name is Artemis West. You're a fifteen-year-old superhero with super-speed. You're the sidekick of the Flash. That's me. You're best friends with Batman's sidekick, whose name is-"

It clicked. "Robin!" Artemis shouted, causing Barry to jump. "Take me to see Robin, uh, Uncle... Barry!" She felt not a little awkward at calling this complete stranger her uncle, but hey, if it got her to Robin so she could either punch his lights out or get her away from this crazy guy...

"Sparrow."

"What?"

"Batman's sidekick's name is Sparrow."

"Whatever. Can you take me to him?"

"Yeah, about that. You and Sparrow are a little... grounded."

"What?!"

"I warned you both about not following orders! Neither one of you are allowed to hang out together for a week. That was the punishment."

"Okay, my turn. My name is Artemis Crock, not West, and I'm not a speedster, I'm an archer. I'm the sidekick of Green Arrow after Speedy left, and I'm a member of Young Justice!"

"Young what? Artemisareyouokay? Whathappenedyou'renotmakinganysense?" In a moment of panic, he lapsed into speed-talking. But to her surprise, Artemis found that she could understand every word.

"I'm fine. But I personally don't care if Wally gets his face mashed in by an elephant at this point."

"That's mean."

"Jerk deserves it."

Barry Allen chewed his lip in thought. "I'll contact Batman and see what I can do," he said finally. "But Speedy isn't coming. You and Sparrow together is bad enough."

"Thank you, Mr. Allen." Finally, she'd see a familiar face!

He frowned a little at the title, but shrugged. "Put on your suit."

Artemis's unusually good mood vanished. "Suit?" She growled.

The so-called Flash seemed unaffected. "Yes. It's in the closet. Even if Bats says no, we can still patrol. Make it quick, Arty."

Artemis frowned as the man disappeared from the doorway, closing the door behind him. She made her way around all of the cheap merchandise and opened the door of the closet. Most of the clothes were fairly plain, for which she was grateful. But in the back, where her green uniform would usually be there was, in its place, a very different suit. It wasn't unlike Wally's Kid Flash costume, but it had a bare midriff, boots that reached the knees, and short sleeves. It was curvier, like it was made for Artemis's feminine figure, and had a large hole in the back of the mask for her ponytail to stick out. It was, overall, very weird.

"Wally, you are so dead," she hissed furiously.

As she dressed into slightly uncomfortable uniform, she vaguely heard someone talking downstairs. She crept out of the strange bedroom and followed the voices. Barry Allen was speaking to his wristwatch in a room that looked like a kitchen.

"Yeah, I know they are, Bats. But I'm worried about her! She's acting like she doesn't remember anything. The only thing she remembers is Sparrow, although she calls him Robin."

"Yes, she's acting," came a voice from the wristwatch. It sounded suspiciously like Batman. "That's the point."

"Bats, I'm serious. She's a terrible actress. I don't think she's kidding. And she hit her head against that building while we were on patrol last night. I'm worried she has a concussion or something."

"Take her to the hospital."

"And tell them what? She picked a fight with Captain Cold? You of all people should understand the concept of a secret identity."

"What good will bringing her here do?"

"Maybe Sparrow can jump-start her memory somehow. Besides, the week is almost up, and they've been good about it."

There was an endless pause, and Artemis held her breath, praying Batman would say yes. She had to see Robin, or Sparrow, she guessed. Maybe he knew what was going on, because with every second that passed, she was becoming less sure that this was a prank.

"Sparrow has also not been himself today," Batman said finally. "I can't find anything wrong with him. Perhaps he just misses Artemis."

"Yes! I knew I could count on you, Bats!" Flash looked up and saw Artemis at that moment. He gave a grin, and then turned back to his wristwatch. "Hey, Bats? Gotta go. Meet you in the cave?'

Batman grumbled something that sounded like, "why do I let him talk me into this", but then consented. Flash pressed a small button on his wristwatch before turning to Artemis.

"Bats says yes," he informed her, grinning. "Nice suit."

Artemis looked down at the brightly colored suit hugging her body and scowled. She looked like a circus clown. No wonder Wally was such a goof-off.

"Whatever. Can we go?"

Barry Allen nodded as he wiggled a ring on his finger. A bright red suit popped out, and the man made a whirlwind around it before skidding to stop in full costume. Artemis let out a squawk as he suddenly swept her off her feet into a bridal carry and sped out the door using super-speed.

"Just in case I had any doubts that this actually is the Flash," she thought.

Only about five seconds passed before the two stood before a zeta-tube and Flash was punching in the coordinates. He yanked her by the arm through the tube, and seconds later, they were standing in a dark, damp stone cave-like structure.

"Where are we?" Artemis demanded.

"In the batcave, duh." The Flash suddenly waved when Batman himself appeared around the corner. "Hi Bats! We're here!"

"I noticed," the Dark Knight replied with his usual deadpan expression. He gave a wave of his hand, and a second, slightly smaller figure stepped out the shadows.

Artemis frowned. This wasn't Robin. He was too tall and muscular. His skin was too dark, and his hair too light. He wore a spandex suit that looked like Robin's, but it was bigger, and the bold R symbol had been replaced by a curving, graceful S. Maybe Robin and Sparrow weren't the same person? Maybe this wasn't a prank at all?

"Hello, Artemis," Sparrow addressed. "How do you fare this fine day?"

And Artemis knew only one person who could talk with absolutely no contractions and still seem cool. Her suspicions were confirmed when Sparrow peeled off the domino mask on his face, revealing bright, piercing gray eyes. This was surely not a prank.

"Kaldur?"

**AN/ DAT DAT DA! When I get five or more reviews for this chapter, i will put up another. Although i may end up being a little late... If I get ten reviews for this chapter, I'll put Speedy/Red Arrow in some of the later chapters! (Hint hint review already!)**


	3. How am I Breathing?

**A/N holy cow! I have a total of 270-something views and... nine reviews? Uh... anyway, didn't get the ten reviews I asked for, but I'll give you guys another chance cause I wanted to post this chapter early. If, by the time I am ready to post chapter six, I have, eh, seventeen reviews for the whole story, I will include both Roy and Cheshire in the story. Also, I will be holding a vote for those of you who think that Cheshire and Red Arrow should also be switched, but I won't reveal the results until I'm ready. So vote- switch, or don't switch? I have head blurbs for both scenarios so I have no preference.**

**I will also be accepting suggestions for Wally's new name. He has been switched with Artemis, so please keep it archer-themed. If I don't get anything good, he'll end up with something stupid, like Blue Arrow. SAVE HIM FROM THIS FATE!**

**On with chapter three, wahoo!**

"Hello, Artemis," Kaldur repeated. But Artemis had been taught to read voices. Though Kaldur appeared to be unconcerned, he was also confused and upset over their predicament.

"How are you?" Artemis asked, straining to keep the fear from her voice. Batman suddenly gave her a suspicious glare.

"I am well." Kaldur gave what appeared to be a nonchalant wave of his hand. Artemis recognized it as a secret hand signal the team used, meaning, "are you okay".

Artemis shrugged and smiled as Kaldur, looking relieved, continued. "I have missed you greatly in the past few days, as well as... Speedy."

Artemis nodded. "Me too."

An awkward silence settled over the room as Batman and Flash exchanged glances. Artemis thought fast. What would Robin normally do that would get her alone with Kaldur?

"Did you upgrade the security on your computer?" she asked.

"Uh, oh, yes, I did. Would you like to see?"

"Sure!" Kaldur and Artemis left the room as Flash sighed in relief and Batman kept glaring.

When she thought they were safely out of earshot, Artemis began to snicker. "You don't even know where Robin's computer is, do you?"

Kaldur smiled. "I do not."

"I'm guessing that you have the same problem as me."

"I am no longer Aqualad, sidekick to King Orin, apparently. I am now Sparrow, protégé to Batman."

"Same here, except I'm suddenly Girl Flash. Did I mention this suit is just about the most uncomfortable thing I've worn since I was six and tried to wear samurai armor?"

Aqualad glanced at the overly-bright costume. "It is not your best color, either, I must admit."

"Thanks," Artemis replied sarcastically. "Any idea what happened?"

Aqualad sighed suddenly. "Before you say anything, none of this is to blame on Kid Flash." The blond girl frowned as he continued. "There is another force at work here. I do not know whether it has a psychic connection or a magical connection, but I believe our pasts have been alternated."

"In real life or in our heads?"

"Perhaps both. I cannot know for certain until we find the real Robin. As Sparrow, I make a poor substitute."

"But where would he be?"

Kaldur sighed. "I do not know. But I believe that he is not nearby."

"So what do we do?"

"We must wait. He will come to us sooner than we think."

Kaldur was right.

Meanwhile, many miles away, in a lost world, Robin was returning to the land of the living.

"Aw, man, my head hurts," he moaned, sitting up without opening his eyes. It felt a little strange to move, like there was a force pushing against him as he did. "What happened to me?"

"You hit your head," replied a female voice.

Robin yelped as his eyes shot open. A pale, brunette teen sat on an ornate chair near the bed. A bed that was not Robin's bed. In a room he didn't recognize.

"Alright, who's my captor now?" He moaned. The girl frowned.

"Captor? I do not understand, Dikel'ahm."

"Say what?" Robin stared at her. "What did you just call me?"

"Dikel'ahm," she replied, her brow beginning to furrow. "That is your name. You are Aqualad, protector of Atlantis, along with our great King Orin. And I am Tula."

The name clicked in Robin's still-fuzzy brain. "You? You're Tula? You're Aqualad's girlfriend?"

Tula blushed. "While I consider it sweet that you admire me, Dikel'ahm, I fear you are too young for me."

Robin blinked as her words went though the usually well-oiled machinery of his brain. "Huh? No! I mean, not me, Aqualad! I'm not Aqualad! I'm Robin, I live in Gotham City with Batman, and Aqualad lives in Atlantis!"

Tula nodded. "Yes, he does. He is here now."

"Wait, really? How come? I thought he was out doing stuff with Aquaman?"

"He was, Dikel'ahm, but he was injured and was brought back to Atlantis."

"Would you stop calling me that? I'm Robin! Is Aqualad alright?"

"I am beginning to wonder that myself," Tula remarked dryly.

Robin sighed. "Is Kaldur alright?"

"I do not know anyone by this name... Robin."

"You don't know Robin?"

"I do not, but I also do not know anyone by the name of Kaldur."

"Kaldur'ahm. He's Aqualad. Dark skin, light hair, leader of Young Justice? Doesn't ring a bell?"

Tula frowned again. "I do not know anyone by the name of Kaldur'ahm, and if I did, he is not Aqualad. Aqualad's true name is Dikel'ahm. YOU are Aqualad. You are here, at home in Atlantis. Do you not remember?"

"Wait. I'M Aqualad? And I'm...in Atlantis?!" Robin gasped. "But Atlantis is underwater!"

"Yes..."

"So I'm underwater?"

"Yes..."

"How am I breathing underwater?"

Tula blinked slowly and said, "You are breathing underwater the same way that all Atlanteans breathe underwater, with gills."

Robin stared at her before reaching up and rubbing his fingers over the side of his neck. Thin flaps of skin lay near his throat, moving slightly every time he inhaled. "I'm Aqualad?" he asked again.

"Yes."

"I'm in Atlantis?"

"Yes."

"I'm Atlantean?"

"Yes."

"And my name is Dikel'ahm?"

"Yes."

Robin stared down at his hands, which now sported webs between his fingers.

"It's at times like these that I can only say one thing."

"What is that?"

Robin sighed. "So not feeling the aster."

**A/N that one's a little short, I know. But I wanted to end it there with the aster in hopes of saving the chapter... Robin is so hard to write for! I'm not keen on Tula in general cause she dumped Kaldur, so I made her babysit everyone's favorite troll...**

**Don't forget to review, cast your vote for switching Roy and Cheshire, and suggest a new name for Wally!**

**Coming up next, Robin trolls Tula and has his first experience with Atlantean sorcery, Artemis vibrates through walls, and Kaldur is forced to attempt acrobatics. Also, we get a peek at where Conner has been this whole time...**


	4. Bloody Nose and Robin Trolls

**A/N Ha ha chapter four! Still taking suggestions for Wally's new name and still taking votes for switching and not-switching Cheshire and Red Arrow! Kinda felt bad for giving you guys such a short chapter last time, so this one is extra long! Enjoy!**

**Also, forgot to put in the disclaimer against last chapter. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or any related characters. Kinda glad I don't, because if I did, this story would end up being the whole season three.**

Kaldur'ahm of Atlantis, protégé of his ruler, King Orin, the one and only Aqualad, had finally met his match.

His team no longer stood by his side, ready to fight to the death against evil. Only Artemis, brave and loyal, faced Aqualad's greatest opponent with him.

"Are you just going to stand there and look at it or what?"

Kaldur gave Artemis a slightly annoyed stare. "Please do not rush me, Artemis. Be patient."

"Hate to tell you this, but I'm the new Kid Flash. There is no being patient. It's starting to seem like the world's in slow-motion."

"I understand that you have inherited Kid Flash's lack of concentration. But I must do this in my own time."

"They're monkey bars!"

Kaldur sighed. It was true. In an attempt to test the limits of their new abilities,Artemis suggested that the two of them try out their new powers. Likely, they would never be as skilled in their newfound abilities as Robin and Kid Flash, but it was a beginning. Kaldur went first, agreeing to test his agility. Or his non-agility. He was not entirely sure which.

Artemis sighed and began tapping her foot on the floor, albeit at a much faster pace than normally. "Its not that tough. You just grab the bars and climb across. Is that so hard?"

Kaldur began to feel a twinge of annoyance. "I am not of the acrobatic type. I do not believe I have the physical ability to perform this endeavor."

Artemis groaned. "Why can't you just say, 'I can't do it'? At least try! You never know!"

The Atlantean nodded his agreement. "That is true. Very well."

He inhaled, exhaled, and began run. As he approached the monkey bars, he leapt into the air and managed to grab the first bar. Quickly, he used his hands to move to the next, and the next. He was halfway across before he had to drop to the ground.

"It would appear," Kaldur mused as he caught his breath, "that I did not inherit much of Robin's agility."

"Might be just because you're bigger than him, too. Most real acrobats are very short and wiry."

"That is also true. But what of yourself, Artemis? Have you tested any of your abilities as the new Kid Flash?"

"Does it count that I used super-speed to run into a wall?"

"...No."

"Then no. But I have found out what it feels like to Wally to have an accelerated metabolism. I almost pity him. Almost. Not quite."

Kaldur smiled slightly. "I take it that you are feeling hungry now."

"Duh, yeah. Have you found a kitchen in this room of gloom Batman calls home?"

"Of course. Please follow me."

Five minutes later found Kaldur and Artemis in a rather low-tech kitchen, considering that it was built by Batman. Kaldur slowly chewed on what Artemis could only guess were sardines, while she munched a rather large sandwich. It was bigger than anything she would have normally eaten, but it was far smaller than anything she had ever seen Wally eat. Besides, Artemis had these "magic" things Wally had never heard of-table manners.

"You do realize that our lives and powers are not the only things that have changed, correct?" Kaldur asked suddenly.

Artemis stopped chewing. "Meaning?"

"I believe we have also been sent back in time."

"How come?"

"In part, because I saw a news channel a few moments before you and the Flash arrived. What season is it now?"

"Autumn."

"And because of this, the leaves on the trees should be colored, or the trees should be bare of their leaves. Am I correct?"

"Yeah." Artemis started tapping her fingers against the table impatiently at an inhuman speed, wondering what the former Atlantean was trying to point out. "So what? What's it got to do with anything?"

"But when I saw the news channel, the leaves on every tree were still green and still attached to the trees. They have not fallen, almost as though it is no longer autumn, but summer."

Artemis's fingers stopped drumming abruptly. Her gray eyes turned away from the ceiling as she stared at Kaldur. "Were you planning on sharing this with me before or after you died falling off the monkey bars?"

"In truth, I did not begin to ponder this before now."

"We've been sent back in time, too? Is that why the team doesn't exist? Because we haven't met yet?"

"Perhaps so. I am slightly leery to ask Batman of the date, however, for fear that he will begin to wonder about me."

"Is that what we want him to do? Wonder? Maybe he'll figure out that there's something wrong, and that Robin's his real sidekick. And that I'm not supposed to have super-speed, and that you're an Atlantean."

"It is not so simple. I fear for our safety in this matter. Perhaps you should call it instinct, but we must not tell anyone that we have been changed, for the safety of e team, our mentors, perhaps even the world. We must find the others, but we must do it the same way that we originally met each other. On July 4th, Batman, Flash, Aquaman, and Green Arrow will bring their sidekicks to the Justice League headquarters. Speedy will leave, and you and myself, along with whoever is the new Aqualad, then break into operation CADMUS and release project Kr. In our world, this was Superboy. However, I fear that the fate that befell us has also befallen our teammates. Conner may not be the superhuman we release."

Artemis scratched her scalp and gave a deep sigh. "This just keeps getting better."

"Am I to assume that was sarcasm?"

"Yep."

A silence filled the room. Kaldur cleared his throat awkwardly before speaking again. "I am curious, Artemis. Kid Flash has the ability to vibrate the molecules of his body at a speed that allows him to phase through walls. However, he never mastered the technique. I merely wondered, do you share this ability?"

Artemis blinked. Then she turned to Kaldur and gave him a cold glare. "You just want to see me get a bloody nose."

"No."

"I'm not stupid."

"I never said anything that implied that you were."

"Wait a second! You don't think I can do it, do you?"

The former Atlantean pursed his lips together and appeared to be thinking. "I believe that it will be necessary to learn whether or not you have the ability."

"You don't think I can do it."

"...I am highly dubious."

"Fine!" Artemis stood up from her chair so quickly that it toppled to the floor. She didn't bother to pick it up. She marched to the nearest wall, stood before it for a moment, and then began to vibrate her entire body. She took a swift step toward the wall, still vibrating, only to bank into it hard and stumble backwards, holding her face. "Ow!"

She turned swiftly to Kaldur and pointed an accusing finger at him as a thin stream of red flowed from her left nostril. "You did that on purpose! You knew it would happen!"

Kaldur managed to suppress a chuckle and stared back at Artemis without even smiled. "I only suspected, I did not know."

"You're as bad as Robin, you troll!" Artemis's anger disappeared suddenly as a thought hit her. "What if we're switching personalities, too? I'll be a flirting, redheaded mess!"

"We are not switching personalities," Kaldur assured. "I honestly only wished to know if you had the ability to vibrate through solid objects. I did not intend for it to be amusing."

Artemis gave a nasally sigh as she pinched her nose and tilted her head back. "Tell Wally and I swear I'll kill you both."

"The secret is safe with me." Kaldur held back his laughter as he wondered what Robin himself would think of this incident.

Although Kaldur didn't know it, Robin was still in Atlantis, having even more fun. He figured out that for some reason, everyone in the underwater city thought that he was Aqualad, and that he always had been, and apparently, Kaldur simply didn't exist anymore. Robin was less than keen on this and suspected mind control. But over the entire city? It was unbelievable.

But on the other hand, it contained an entire new world of possibilities for his scheming mind. Literally.

Now THIS was asterous.

He decided to go along with Tula's insistence that he was Aqualad. "Of course I'm Aqualad! How could I forget? I'm so sorry to have caused you worry, my beautiful Tula." Needless to say, Tula was less than impressed with his mocking attempts at flirting, and was a little uneasy at his use of actual contractions. Apparently, in Atlantis, no one spoke real English.

Best. Day. Ever.

A little begging, pleading, and puppy dog eyes got Robin out of the bedroom and into the world beyond. Mesmerized by the feeling of cool weightlessness in the water, he swam alongside the teenaged Atlantean. She led him to a large arena-like area, where two males swam in a tight circle around the center. An elegant woman floated nearby, watching. Suddenly she let out a cry in the language of Atlantis, and the larger of the two men sent a stream of water toward the other, who barely dodged before a glowing blue blade slipped out a metal handle. The second man swiped and sliced at the other, ensuing an exciting battle.

"They are training in Atlantean sorcery," Tula explained, seeing Robin's musing gaze. "They must learn to use it in combat, for they shall soon join an elite force dedicated to protecting the city. But, of course, you already knew that, did you not, Dikel'ahm?"

"Yeah." Robin resumed watching the practice battle until the woman clapped her hands and uttered a few more sentences of the strange language. It was rather obvious that she was congratulating the two on their impressive performance.

"That is Queen Mera, the wife of King Orin, ruler of Atlantis," Tula said, interrupting Robin's thoughts. "You knew that as well, I assume?"

For some reason, Robin got the impression that he was being mocked. But he ignored it. "Yeah."

Tula swam closer to the stage, and Robin followed her. Tula spoke a few words in Atlantean to the Queen, who nodded in reply and cast a few worried glances in Robins direction.

Oh, this was gold.

Queen Mera turned away from Tula and approached Robin. "Hello, Dikel'ahm," she said sweetly.

Robin ignored the already-hated nickname and grinned. "Hi."

Instantly,the Queen and Tula exchanged glances. Queen Mera turned back to Robin and spoke a few words in Atlantean. Robin gave a sly grin and shrugged. "Sorry, don't speak that language."

Queen Mera blinked, once, twice, three times, and made a face like a guppy for several long moments before she found her voice. "Er... perhaps you should wait out this lesson," she suggested.

"How come? I feel great. In fact, why don't you pair me up with that guy for some sparring?" Robin pointed to the tallest, thickest, and obviously most advanced student in the arena. Queen Mera glanced to the person and gave a quick gasp before turning back to Robin with a pale face.

"Dikel'ahm," she breathed. "That is Natumok, Dikel'ahm. He is undefeated. He could hurt you, badly!"

"Maybe then I'll learn my lesson, eh?"

Queen Mera's fair face twisted into an unsure and frightened expression as she slowly announced, in Atlantean, the next two sparring partners. Robin only caught two words: Dikel'ahm and Natumok. Robin gave his eerie little laugh, which made Tula and several other students give him dubious stares.

"Perhaps you do not understand," growled Natumok in a deep voice as Robin approached the center of the ring with him. "I am the undefeated champion at this school. You may be Aqualad, but you have nothing against my skills. Give up now and you will live."

"Uh, let me think about that one... no. Bring it, you whale."

Queen Mera spoke again in Atlantean, and Natumok instantly shot a stream of hard water at Robin. Robin dodged and kicked Natumok in the shin. The Atlantean howled and grabbed his knee. Three hits later, Natumok lay on the ground, defeated.

Queen Mera cleared her throat awkwardly before she gave Robin a warm, surprised smile."I am impressed, Dikel'ahm. But why did you not use your water-bearers?"

Robin's cocky grin froze. "Water bearers?"

Queen Mera nodded. "Yes."

Tula frowned and leaned over to whisper in Robin's ear. "You have forgotten how to use them, did you not?"

"Yeah." Actually, he never learned how to use them in the first place, but, same difference.

"Come with me." Tula led Robin away from the rest of the group, then pulled out two silver handles and held them out to Robin. Robin took them and frowned.

"Concentrate on the form you wish the hard water to take shape as," Tula suggested. "If you wish to handle them as a knife, focus on the form of a blade."

"A blade," Robin repeated. "Okay." He closed his eyes, and a few seconds later, blades appeared from the handles of the water-bearers. Robin opened his eyes and grinned. "Hey, I did it! Can I do it with any shape?"

Tula smiled. "Very nearly, Dikel'ahm."

Robin ignored the name and focused on forming the hard water into a small shield, like he had often seen Kaldur do.

"This is so perfect!" Robin said with a laugh. Tula frowned when she thought she detected a small cackle near the end. Robin laughed again, and Tula's large eyes widened when the cackle was definitely there. "Eeheeheeheehee..."

"I could use these for so many things!" Robin added, ignoring the fact that Tula suddenly looked terrified and was backing away. When she turned around, however, he looked down at the water-bearers, pointed one at Tula's departing back, and made a small sphere of hard water pop out the end.

Tula shrieked when the hard water connected hard against her backside. She covered the spot with both hands and swam away as quickly as she could, leaving a scheming, dreaming troll laughing too hard to breathe.

Three days previously, the first thing Conner felt was coldness. He was chilled to the bone, and lay in the dust. He was having trouble breathing through the dust, for as he couldn't lift his head off the ground, he was inhaling it, red, chalky dust.

It seemed like hours before he found the strength to move, and when he did, he could have cursed himself for feeling so weak. He was the clone of SUPERMAN. Ihe was the the very emblem of the word strong. Or, at least, the clone of the emblem.

Conner sat up. He was in a dry red desert. It reminded him vaguely of the time the team was trapped in Bialiya. But out there, the sky wasn't gray, and the sand wasn't red. And this time, he knew exactly who he was. At least, he thought he did. And he could only imagine where he was this time. Mars, for all he knew. Why did his skin look weird? Eh, probably just the lighting.

As much as he hated too, he tried to call the team through the ever-present mind-link. "Kaldur, come in. I'm lost in a desert. I don't know where I am, and I need M'gann to come in the bioship and pick me up."

No answer.

Conner tried again. "Kaldur, come in. This is Superboy. Do you read me?"

Silence.

"Robin? M'gann? Wally? Someone, come in. Artemis, do you read me? Come in, come in. This is Superboy. Do you read me? Someone, come on, answer me!"

No answer came.

Conner frowned and stood up. Looked like he was walking from here.

Wait, no. What was that? Conner saw something in the distance. Was it... he couldn't tell. For some reason, his super-powered vision didn't seem to be working. Great, first, no laser vision, then no super-sight at all?

He started walking toward the object. It was red. Bright red, and made from some kind of metal. A spaceship? It was sleek, aerodynamic, and... it was the bioship! Conner started running. He grabbed the doorway and peered in. Empty. M'gann would never leave the bioship unattended and not in camo mode. Something was up.

Conner took a few steps forward. He glanced around, confirming that there were no enemies. He took a few steps forward, and suddenly, the door of the bioship closed behind him.

Conner frowned as he turned back to the door. He tried the handle, but it was suddenly locked. Great. He considered smashing the lock with his fists, but M'gann would be upset. So that left him trapped in the bioship all by himself.

Conner leaned against the wall and slid to the floor with a sigh. Something told him that being locked in the bioship was the least of his worries.

**A/N Whoo! Was that long enough? Hope so!**

**Also, a lot of people are asking where Wally is. Don't worry, he'll get here soon, I promise! Just working out some "minor" plot holes...**

**Next chapter: Independence Day, rewritten! May be a two part chapter...**

**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW I LOVE REVIEWS THEY MAKE ME WANT TO WRITE FASTER!**


	5. Reattempts, Apologies, and Manhunters

**A/N Okay, I know I promised is chapter would be about Independence Day, but then this happened. It's a little bit of filler, really. No Wally yet. I'm digging my own grave here, aren't I? Oh well.**

**Special thanks to Ki-Chan Riker for helping me out with a certain troll last chapter!**

**Still taking votes for the Red Arrow/Cheshire switch, as well as suggestions for Wally's archer name.**

**Disclaimer: Need I bother? If I owned, they wouldn't have canceled, and we would be watching a season seven by now.**

"So, today's actually the third, huh?" Artemis asked musingly. Kaldur tried not to laugh as the nasally tone of her voice as she held yet another tissue to her nose. After failing to phase through the wall, Artemis had waited for her nose to stop bleeding, then promptly tried again. And again. And again. Kaldur was sure she would pass out from blood loss at any moment.

"That is what Robin's computer says," Kaldur replied. He held up his arm to show the blonde the holographic computer screen coming from the armband of his costume. "Tomorrow, Batman, the Flash, Aquaman, and Green Arrow will assemble their protégés and bring them to the Justice League headquarters."

"You said that yesterday. Tell me something I don't know." Artemis chewed another sandwich, the third since arriving two hours ago. Her increased metabolism was beginning to become more pronounced, and she was already eating nearly double the amount of food she would normally eat. But Kaldur was unconcerned. Her sudden impatience was far more bothersome to him.

"We will be meeting with the teammate who has become Aqualad. I, personally, am very interested in the outcome in Atlantis that derived from the switch."

"Talk normal. Use some contractions or something. You talk too slow."

"It is an Atlantean quality that I am unable to drop without great concentration."

Artemis scowled. "Considering that I really can't concentrate on anything anymore for longer than ten minutes, I guess I can't force you to focus." She took another bite of sandwich and peered at the screen. "So that's how you found Conner, huh? He was at CADMUS?"

"Yes. But he was a bit, er, unstable at the time."

Artemis glared. "He what? How? Why? What does that even mean?" Artemis's voice picked up speed as she spoke, and Kaldur frowned at the new ability that the other teen didn't seem to notice.

"He was under the psychic control of the genomorphs. They forced him to attack us. But when he was released from their control, he was able to control himself. At least, as well as Conner can control himself."

"So when we do rescue him, he'll attack us?" Artemis facepalmed. "Is there anything else I need to know, Kaldur?!"

"You have a fly on your sandwich."

Artemis flicked away the offending insect with a snarl. "You know, I'm getting pretty sick of this. Flash won't let me go anywhere except here. Who does he think he is, my caretaker or something?"

"Yes."

"Sarcasm, fish head."

"I am aware."

Artemis abruptly stood up from the table. "That's it! I can't take it anymore. I've got to get out of here!"

Kaldur caught her by the arm quickly. "Where are you going?"

"Out. I'm sick of this place."

"Where are you going?"

Artemis yanked her arm from his grip. "I said, out. I'm going back to my house. Not your new house, not Wally's house. My house. I live here in Gotham. And I want to know who has my life. I swear I hope it's Megan because standing here talking to such a slow-talking, enunciating Atlantean is driving me nuts!"

"You cannot go to your home! Our realities have been thrown out of balance. To attempt to alter them may be dangerous to the universe."

"Wait, you mean I can't even go to see my MOM? But she's my mom! I have to go see her! I need to make sure she's okay!"

"Artemis, I am sure that whoever took your place is taking care of your mother. For now, we must live with what we are given and be patient."

"I know. But I'm sick of being the prisoner here."

"As am I. But we will soon be reunited with the others, and until then, we must simply have hope."

Artemis doubted that she could even have hope anymore. Strangely enough, Robin was a mile beneath the sea, thinking much the same thing. After trolling all of Atlantis and terrifying the majority of the population, word had gotten around to King Orin of his antics.

Robin hadn't been able to catch much of the King's ranting, but he had guessed that it was filled with some words of the Atlantean language that were quite... colorful. But in a sentence?

Robin was grounded.

Twenty-four hours and sixteen minutes after waking up from the sleep of the dead, Robin was grounded by a king.

Wally would be impressed. Batman? Eh, not so much.

Of course, it was through this punishment that Robin realized what a truly dire situation he had just placed himself in. Being grounded by the King meant that Robin would not be going to the surface with Aquaman for any reason. But then he had been forbidden to attend a ceremony in which the sidekicks of the Justice League would be given access to the Justice League headquarters. That meant that somehow, not only had Robin switched lives with Kaldur, but he would also miss out on the unofficial team's first mission as a result of time travel.

With only a Kid Flash and a Robin, the mission was bound to be a failure. Having had only three young heroes had been bad enough. But two? They'd be squashed by those genomorphs! In addition, Project Kr would never be released, the team would never be formed, and who knew what else could happen as a result!

Curse his constant instinct to be a troll.

He did the only thing he could think to do in a situation this bad. Were he still Robin, he would never have stooped to such a demeaning position. But he had no other option, and he even doubted this one would work. So he approached the King, sank to his knees, and apologized.

"I meant no harm, my King." Robin winced as he managed to force an Atlantean-like manner of speaking out of his mouth. "I am exceedingly sorry for my actions, and I accept the blame entirely. I allowed my own immaturity to take control., and caused great trouble as a result. I apologize."

The mask of rage faded from the King's face. "I see," was all he said before slipping into a muse. It was several minutes later before he spoke again. "You indeed showed great immaturity by your actions. But, your apologies were heartfelt. Is this not so?"

"Yes."

"Then, you may attend the event tomorrow. But otherwise, you are still grounded."

Robin gave a silent sigh of relief. King Orin had actually fallen for fake sincerity.

Priceless.

Conner tried the door again. Still locked. He gave a yawn and leaned against the wall once more and hoped his teammates would show up soon. He really needed to get out of the bioship.

He yawned again, harder this time. M'gann kept a small stash of emergency blankets in the bioship. He grabbed one off the pile and wrapped himself up in it, not because he was cold, but because he was tired. He lay down on the floor of the bioship, wrapped the blanket over his head, and fell asleep.

It had to have been hours before he awoke again, because suddenly, the bioship was moving. Oh, good. The team must have found the ship and were flying it back to Mount Justice. But why hadn't they woken Conner?

Conner threw off the blanket into an unceremonious heap in the corner. He strode forward with the intention of taking a seat in the front of the ship, but then froze. In the pilot's seat, M'gann's seat, sat the Martian Manhunter. Why was he flying the ship?

"Martian Manhunter?"

The alien stood up and whirled. "C'nner? What are you doing here? How did you get in?"

"Hold up. Why are driving the bioship? Where's M'gann? And what did you just call me?''

Martian Manhunter stared at Conner with a glare that would make Batman proud. Conner returned it without hesitation.

"C'nner M'orzz, you have a lot of explaining to do."

**A/N Probably won't have any more to write for Conner until after the real Independence Day chapter. Him and Robin are my trouble characters, it seems. And yeah, it shorter again. I'm up late this time for you guys... the things I do... hope you enjoyed. Review, cause when you press that button that says review, out pops rainbows, kittens, unicorns, flowers and butterflies... not really, but review anyway.**


	6. Independence Day

**A/N And here's number six! This is actually the Independence Day chapter, people! Lots of action! I hope... kinda writing this from memory because I haven't seen the actually episode in a while. The dialogue will be very off for obvious reasons.**

**Yeah, no Conner here today. Or Wally. Kill me now...**

**Actually don't. Kinda like my head where it is. But what is this? Hey, it's Megan! Truce?**

**BTW, I did not get the seventeen reviews I asked for a few chapters back. I got way more than that! 31! Roy and Jade are here to stay! However, still not quite ready to make them a main part of the storyline. Therefore, still accepting votes on the option of a switch! Also, I'm still open to suggestions for Wally's name. I have a few that I'm interested in, but I want to make sure everyone gets a chance to input an idea.**

**This author's note is too long!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned, would we still be mad because of the cancel? No! Because there would be no cancelling to begin with! Argh!**

"So help me," Artemis snarled under her breath, "if one more person calls me Flash Girl, I will stick an arrow up their butt."

Kaldur let out an inaudible sigh. "It will be only a few moments until the new Aqualad arrives, and we will no longer have to deal with these reporters. Also, do not speak of shooting people. You will give us away."

"If it makes them quit calling me Flash Girl, worth it. Girl Flash is bad enough on its own."

"Aw, that's nothing!" Artemis's lip curled in distaste as Speedy's voice reached her ears. He was just as annoying as she remembered him, even though she had only met him as Red Arrow before today.

Speedy continued. "People call me all kinds of stuff. Archer Boy, Boy Arrow, Arrow Boy, Kid Archer, Archer Kid, shall I go on?"

"Please don't," Artemis hissed.

"I see Aquaman," Kaldur whispered suddenly. "And Robin is with him!"

"Robin?" Artemis gasped. Her annoyance toward Speedy was instantly forgotten, one of the perks of being a speedster, Kaldur reflected. "No way! How'd that happen?" Artemis stood on tiptoe and tried to see the shorter boy over the heads of the crowd. "Oh, man, there he is! I see him! Wait, why's he smiling like that? It's so weird! And look! He has blue eyes! I've never seen him without his mask or sunglasses before. Wait a sec, he kinda looks like that guy from my school, y'know?"

Kaldur frowned as he watched Robin approach and ignored Artemis's hyperactive ramblings. But she was right. Robin wore no mask, revealing a pair dark blue eyes. And he had a strange smile on his face. It was serene, quiet, calm,and very un-Robin.

"Who's Robin?" Speedy asked dryly.

"She means Aqualad," Kaldur explained quickly. But he didn't elaborate, even when Speedy gave him a funny look.

When Robin approached hearing distance, Artemis stuck out her hand in greeting. "Hi, Aqualad," she said pointedly. "I'm Girl Flash."

Robin smiled even bigger, but there was yet no mischievous note to it. Artemis frowned.

"Please," Robin replied. "I insist that you call me Dikel'ahm. It is my Atlantean name, and what all of my friends call me."

Kaldur and Artemis exchanged glances. First, he talks like an Atlantean, then, he gives out an Atlantean name?

Speedy didn't notice. "Sea people," he muttered under his breath.

The sidekicks and their mentors forced their way through the crowds and entered the Justice League headquarters. Speedy seemed unimpressed, and Kaldur had seen it before. Robin appeared politely aloof. Artemis was ready to kick him.

"Welcome to headquarters, guys," Flash said with a goofy smile.

Speedy snorted. "This isn't headquarters."

Kaldur and Robin didn't even twitch, but Artemis hadn't known about the Watchtower. "Say what?" she asked quickly. Kaldur winced.

"The real headquarters is in outer space," Speedy added. "It's a space station called the Watchtower. Did you really think the Justice League would have an official headquarters this public? Please. The main plot of every villain known would be to bomb it."

Batman turned to Green Arrow. The elder archer shrugged. "What? I thought we could make an exception!" The Bat-stare became a Bat-glare in reply, and Green Arrow winced. "Or not."

Batman turned back to the sidekicks. "You will not be going to the Watchtower," he said firmly. "You should not even know that it exists. I don't know what possesses some people to give out that kind of classified information, but you are not going. That is final."

"I thought today was the day you were going to stop treating us like sidekicks?!" Speedy fumed. "When we were going to stand at your side like the heroes we are, instead of standing in the sidelines while you get all the credit!"

"You're not trained-" Batman began.

"Since when?!"

"To work with this team," Batman finished, casting a glare in Speedy's direction. The angry teen only huffed and ignored him.

"Be patient, Speedy," Kaldur advised. "We must become more fully fledged in our work before we can become part of the League."

"What Sparrow says is true," Robin spoke up. "If we are patient, the League,struts in us and our abilities will come naturally."

Artemis scowled. Robin was still talking without contractions and Speedy was being an idiot. Neither of them were helping matters.

"You know what? I'm sick of this." Speedy ripped off his yellow hat and threw it on the ground. "I refuse to be a part of this junior Justice League. If you want me to be one of you, you'll have to let me in the real thing." Without a second glance back, he turned and walked away.

Green Arrow picked up the hat solemnly. "I didn't want this to happen," he murmured. Flash placed one hand on the archer's shoulder before turning to the remaining sidekicks.

"If anyone else wants to leave," he said with a surprising amount of seriousness, "do it now."

Artemis and Kaldur exchanged glances but remained silent. Robin spoke up.

"We will stay."

Kaldur felt a twinge of jealousy when King Orin gave Robin a warm, unkingly smile. Robin shifted uncomfortably before grinning back. Not smiling, grinning. He probably wasn't used to having his mentor smile at him in praise.

Batman nodded and probably would have said something else, but at that moment, his communicator beeped. The Dark Knight placed two fingers to his left ear and listened.

"On our way," he confirmed finally. Then he turned to the sidekicks. "We have a mission. Stay here. Do not use the zeta-tubes for any reason. And don't get into anything."

Artemis gave a cocky grin. "When do we?"

Flash frowned at her and made a gesture that said, "I'm watching you". Artemis only grinned back until the mentors disappeared through the whirring zeta-tube.

"Holy cow!" Kaldur jumped as Robin's voice echoed through the room. He glanced back at the former acrobat as Robin did three cartwheels across the room. "I'm back, baby! Kaldur, how do you stand talking like that all day long? It's so bad that I wanted to scream halfway through every single sentence! But I managed to stay traught the whole time. And by the way, Atlantis is a total disaster now. Heavy on the dis. Now what happened that we've all got each other's lives? Not that Tula isn't hot and all, but she's not keen on the pranking."

"Why were you talking like an Atlantean?!" Artemis demanded. "I couldn't understand a word you were saying, and I've been waiting all day for you to shoe up so that I could talk to somebody besides Kaldur."

Robin shrugged. "Like I said, Atlantis is a disaster. Heavy on the dis. In order to show up here, I had to get back off King Orin's naughty list. So I adopted the Atlantean persona. It's a nightmare."

"Why is Atlantis a disaster?" Kaldur asked suspiciously.

Robin's face scrunched up like he was thinking. "Let's just say that a good idea does not consist of sending a sardine stampede through Main Street."

Artemis rubbed her temples. "I don't want to know," she moaned.

Robin grinned back at her. "Nope, you probably don't." He moved toward the computer in the center of the room. "Operation CADMUS in effect!"

"Seriously?" Artemis could only stare as Robin used the computer on Kaldur's arm to work on the League's database. "You're breaking into Justice League computer systems?"

Robin smirked. "Did you expect anything less? Besides, we need Conner's exact coordinates if we're going to get this, right?"

"I guess. I wasn't here the first time."

"I know." Robin tapped the screen. "Although, I must admit that it helps a lot when you know what's going to happen before it happens. Makes stuff pretty asterous."

"Whatever, bat brat."

Robin turned off the armband computer, giving Kaldur and Artemis a triumphant look. "How's that for a bat brat?"

Artemis shrugged it off. "Zeta-tubes?"

"Nope. We're walking."

"Running," Artemis corrected.

"Not unless you want to tire yourself out."

"No, seriously." Artemis motioned to her yellow and red suit with a grin. "I actually am Girl Flash. And I'm running."

"Okay, Flash Girl."

"It's Girl Flash!"

Robin merely gave his signature cackle. "Little troll," Artemis growled.

Two Hours Later

"Robin? Are you sure this is the right door?"

Robin gave a frustrated huff as he yanked Kaldur's arm closer to the door so he could hack the lock. "One hundred percent. We were here before, remember?"

"True. However, that was a number of months ago," Kaldur replied with a longsuffering sigh.

"Just hurry."

Robin held up his left arm to reveal a long gash running from the elbow to the wrist. "It's kind of hard to do this when I'm suffering and when you're yelling in my ear, Flash Girl!"

"Girl Flash!"

"Nobody cares!"

"Well, maybe if you'd have just stuck with bombs and bat-a-rangs, you'd eliminate two out of two problems!"

"But Kaldur can't use the water bearers anymore! He's not Atlantean anymore, and bombs are easy enough to learn! Besides, at least I didn't run into the wall five times!"

Artemis gingerly rubbed her gloved fingers over a bruise on her forehead before answering. "It's not like you can even use those water bearers! So you can make pretty shapes with it. Big deal! You have to know how to use a sword before it's useful, whether it's a magic sword made of water or not!"

Robin ignored her. "Open, you stupid door!" He gave the door a swift kick, and in reply, it slid open. "Oh."

"Come on," Artemis snarled impatiently. She grabbed Kaldur and Robin and dragged the two after her into the room. Robin instantly began to hook up Kaldur's armband to the control panel after catching a glance of the pod. But Artemis saw the pod and gasped.

"Guys?"

"What?"

"You might want to see this."

"It can wait."

"No, it can't."

Robin typed in the last letter of the sequence and glanced up just in time to see why Artemis was worried. In the pod, rather than Superboy, was a girl. She wore a white jumpsuit with the Superman emblem emblazoned on the chest. Her red-brown hair was shoulder-length with a white headband holding it out of her face, and when her eyes opened, they stared upward in a solid amber gaze. If her skin had been green and not a peach color, she would have looked exactly like...

"It's M'gann!" Artemis gasped. "M'gann!"

M'gann slowly turned her eyes away from the ceiling. She could hear... voices. Familiar voices. And she saw figures-people.

"Bad people," a voice hissed in her head. "Destroy bad people."

She stepped out of the pod with determined steps. She had to listen to the voice-destroy bad people.

"M'gann!" A voice from outside her head shouted and interrupted her thoughts. "M'gann, it's me! Artemis! We're here to help you get out of here!"

A growl was torn from M'gann's throat. And she attacked.

The next minute was a blur. She heard shouting. Pained shouting, like someone was being hurt. Suddenly, she heard another external voice say something. "You're not Megan! Megan would never hurt us! What are you?!"

A voice answered, a voice that was not M'gann's own. "I am the Supergirl. I am a clone of Superman, designed to replace him should he fall, and defeat him, should he turn from the light."

"The genomorphs! Now!"

The internal voices were suddenly gone. M'gann looked around and saw Robin, Kaldur, and Artemis lying on the ground, scattered around the room. She looked down at her hands. They were dirty, like she had tried to hit something and missed, striking and smashing a wall instead. M'gann's organic clothing materials were gone, replaced by a white suit with the Superman symbol. "What happened?" was all she could ask.

Artemis stood up. Why was she wearing a Kid Flash costume? "Long story, Megan. For now, let's leave it at, you were mind-controlled. But you're okay now. We have to get out of this building."

"Of course." M'gann helped Robin to his feet while Kaldur stood. Why did Kaldur have a Robin costume? And why did Robin have water bearers? Where was his mask?

Megan crossed her arms. "Somebody a lot of explaining to do."

**A/N tada!**

**Remember to vote, suggest, pretty sure you guys know the drill by now. If I'm not answering your reviews, it's because the email I have hooked up to this account is acting up, so I'm having trouble keeping track of which reviews i have and haven't replied to. Don't spite me. **

**The review button makes Wally come soon... hint hint...**


	7. Dude, So Not Cool

**A/N**

**One hour ago, on my end of the Internet...**

** Me: Give it back! "reaches for tablet"**

**KF: *dances around holding the tablet in the air* No! Not until you drop the Independence Day plot and put me in the story!**

**Me: Wally! *dances around KF trying to grab tablet and failing because I'm five one and he's like five eight* Fine! Give meeee the tablet!**

**KF: *gives back tablet* Do it. Now.**

**Me: Alright, alright! So I'm dropping the cliffhanger from last chapter and sticking Wally in because he's been dancing around my bedroom like a nutjob for the last three hours holding my tablet for ransom. Anyway, still taking votes and suggestions. Remember, this chapter goes back to day one, so it's not like Wally's been out like a light for three days straight or something.**

**KF: More like the 'or something'.**

**Me: You're not helping. Anyway, disclaimer. I-**

**KF: Disclaimer! Acty does not own Young Justice or any related characters. What a surprise.**

**Me: Sarcasm doesn't suit you, Kid Crash. On with the chapter!**

Wally West was no stranger to surprise. His uncle Barry had turned out to be his greatest hero, the Flash. He had turned himself into a superhero using a sixth grade chemistry set. He became a sidekick, a teammate, and a hero, and every bit of it had come as a complete surprise to him.

But he had to admit, this was the biggest, strangest, and likely the worst surprise he had ever experienced.

When he woke up, his head hurt, his joints ached, and he felt like he was moving underwater.

"Wally?" called a voice. Aunt Iris. "Get up! You'll be late for school!"

"I have superspeed," he grumbled to himself, his eyes still closed. "I'll run."

Wait-it was Saturday. Wasn't it? And why was he at home? Hadn't he gone to bed at the cave? In light of this new thought, he opened his eyes.

And promptly squeezed them shut again.

This was bad. This was bad. This was very, very bad.

Wally peeked one eye open again and gasped. Last time he checked, the walls of his bedroom were yellow. Not green. And the carpet was red. Not green. And there was no mess. At least, not as much as there should have been...

"I'm hallucinating," he whispered. "This is just a dream. Yeah, let's go with that."

"WALLY!" Wally jolted as the voice shouted again. It was much closer. Suddenly, the closed door opened, revealing a woman with dark eyes and hair, seated in a wheelchair. "Wally. Get. Up. I'm not going to say it again!"

Wally blinked. Who was this strange woman ordering him around? How did she know his name? Why was she in a wheelchair? Did she actually expect him to do what she said? He could just run away. It's not like he wasn't fast enough. Not only was he a speedster, but she was in a wheelchair!

"Who are you?" Oh, yeah, smart question, West.

Why was he being so sarcastic to himself? It was Artemis's job to be sarcastic.

This was getting weird.

The woman did not appear to be amused. "I'm your mother. Get up!"

"No. No. You-you're not my mother. My mom is-" Wally silently berated himself when he voice suddenly caught in his throat. Come on, it'd been eleven years. Man up, West!

"Wally, I'm not kidding. You need to go to school. If you're going to play the vigilante, you're going to keep up with your schoolwork. I don't care if you think it's your job to protect the city in ways Batman can't, but it will not interfere with your education. You have an opportunity I never had, and you're genius enough to attain it. Now get up!'

Wally was listening with only half of his brain. The other half was spitting out thoughts almost faster than he could process them. Scratch that. No way was he processing it all.

"Who are you?" he asked again. Genius, indeed.

The woman paused and frowned, giving him a quizzical stare. It was almost like she was trying to read his mind, and Wally was sure he could feel her probing his thoughts with her fingers.

"I'm your mother," she repeated finally. Her voice was softer, and she sounded slightly concerned.

"No," Wally managed to croak. He pulled his knees up to his chest and heaved a sigh. "You're not my mother." Stay tough, stay tough...

"Wally, are you alright?" The woman wheeled her chair farther into the room, careful to avoid a few of the items scattered on the floor. She wasn't even trying to disguise the fear in her voice. "Wally, answer me! What happened?"

"This isn't right." Wally looked around the strange room, suddenly feeling very lost. "This isn't my house. I don't live here."

"Wally," the strange woman breathed. She hesitantly reached out and placed one hand on Wally's shoulder. Wally tensed, but did not push her away.

They sat that way for several minutes. Wally wondered briefly what had happened to him going to school, but mentally shrugged it off and remained silent.

After some time, the woman took hold of Wally's other shoulder and turned him toward her. "Wally," she began softly, "are you alright?"

"Yeah." Truth be told, he was still kind of freaked out over the whole situation. But the woman he was with was at least willing to comfort him. Almost like a mother.

"Wally, tell me a little about yourself," the woman suggested suddenly.

Wally blinked. "Uh, sure. Okay." Where to start? Introductions were as good a place as any.

"My name is Wallace Rudolph West. Don't laugh, it's true."

"I didn't laugh."

"Okay. Well, I'm fifteen, and I live in Central City. My, uh, my parents, they're Mary and Rudolph West, but I spend a lot of time with my uncle and aunt, Barry and Iris Allen."

"Why is that?"

"Uh..." Wally hesitated. "Kind of a long story."

"Okay. Go ahead."

"I'm, uh, not very popular in school, because I'm kind of a nerd, and also because I'm a redhead. I really like science. And math. They kind of go hand in hand. Some people say I'm a genius in chemistry, but I'm really only a little above average."

"Is that so? Or are you being modest?" Wally couldn't help but notice that the woman's smile looked rather forced.

"Maybe a little," Wally admitted sheepishly.

"Thought so. Alright, what else?"

"I'm a little bit of a flirt around girls. Always have been, but my pickup lines are the cheesy ones you hear in the one-star romances. I do it on purpose, though. I like to make people laugh."

The woman's expression softened. "That's interesting. Well, my name is Paula Crock. I have two children, but only of them lives with me. A boy. He's fifteen, and his name is Wally."

"Crock? Wait... as in, Artemis Crock? You're her mom?"

"I... I don't know anyone named Artemis. I have one son, and his name is Wally. Wallace Lawrence Crock. That's you," she added swiftly, before Wally could steer away from the conversation.

"No. No. Nope. Nu uh. Nada. No way." Wally folded his arms across his chest with a frown.

"Yes. Yes. Absolutely. Uh huh. Definitely. Yes way." Paula matched his voice tone. "I'm your mom. Paula Crock."

Wally shook his red bed-head. "Nope."

"You've never been to Central City."

"Nah."

"Your middle name is Lawrence, and your last name is Crock."

"Absolutely not."

"You love carrots."

Waly hesitated. "Okay, that last one is true. Where do you think I got freckles and red hair from? Grapes?"

Why was he so sarcastic?

Paula snorted a little. "Maybe you hit your head and have a concussion," she observed. "But we can take you to see a doctor, and-"

"No!"

Paula blinked at the sudden outburst.

Think fast, Wall-man, think fast. If he went to see a doctor, they would surely check his heartbeat. With a speedster's body, his heart rate was easily three times faster than a grown man's. And that was when he was taking a nap. Surely they'd be at least a little suspicious!

"I'm fine," Wally assured Paula quickly. "I'll remember soon. In fact, just talking to you helped. I remember last night. I did hit my head. I'll be fine." Actually, he didn't remember last night. But anything to stay out of the hospital!

Paula smiled. "I'm glad. In the meantime, I'll start some breakfast. I'm sure you're starving."

"Yup." Finally, the woman got something right. Wally was most definitely starving. "I'll be there in a minute."

Wally waited until Paula left the doorway, and instantly began to pace across the floor. Something was wrong. He was dreaming. He had to be. This wasn't real. It was too crazy. Yeah. Just a dream. Sounded good. He could live with that one.

He pinched himself just to make sure.

"Ow!"

Wally stared at the little red mark on his forearm where his fingernails had pinched the skin. This was no dream.

Which meant it was real...

"Dude, this? So not cool."

**A/N**

**Me: So I dropped one cliffhanger for another? Sucks. Satisfied, KF?**

**KF: No. Put me again next chapter to make up for lost time.**

**Me: We'll see, you soulless ginger. We'll see. I don't know Wally's parents' real names, but I'll change them if anyone knows what they really are. EDIT: Names fixed! Thanks guys! Until next time, my friends! And review!**

**KF: Yes! Review! If you review, the idiot blond will place the soulless ginger in the next chapter as well!**

**Me: *pulls out a frying pan and whacks KF with it. KF passes out* If anyone asks, it was an accident. Right, Artemis?**

**Arty: *appears in doorway* You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that.**

**Me: Later, guys!**

**Arty: Bye!**


	8. Of Arguments and Genomorphs

**A/N CHAPTER EIGHT! Sorry I was gone. I took a mini hiatus and didn't tell anyone. But here's to resolving cliffhangers! As a peace offering, I have a little one-shot for you guys on my profile. So much spitfire... but it has MAJOR character death. Just sayin'. But it's still really good.**

**Disclaimer: Guess what? I own them! Also, Dick Grayson is my little brother, my BFF is a Martian, and I was there when Wally proposed to Arty. Nah...**

Wally paced the kitchen of the apartment building. "Okay, so let me get this straight. There's no such thing as an association of the partners of the Justice League?"

Paula Crock sighed, and then took another sip of her tea. "That's right."

"Why not?"

"That's not up to me to decide. It's up to the heroes and sidekicks."

"Partners."

"What?"

"They're not sidekicks, they're partners."

"Is there a difference?"

"Yes."

"I don't understand."

"Most don't."

"Listen Wally. Maybe we should get you to see a doctor."

"I said no. I don't need a doctor, I need to figure out what's going on."

"I told you what's going on."

"But that doesn't help if it doesn't make any sense!" Wally flopped down into the kitchen chair across from Paula. "Listen, something's happened. I'm not who you think I am, and I need to get everything in order."

"Wally, I can't believe you sometimes." Paula placed her thumb and forefinger on either side of the bridge of her nose.

"Artemis feels the same way about me," the redhead replied under his breath, frowning.

"There you go about that Artemis girl again. Who is that? Who's Artemis, and why haven't you told me about her yet?"

"Because there's nothing to tell! I don't like her, she doesn't like me. But at the same time, I've switched lives with her, and I really, really want to go running." Wally didn't even realize he was babbling until Paula interrupted him.

"Running? What happened to archery?"

"Ugh! You wouldn't get it."

"Well, maybe I would if you would just explain it to me!"

"No! Why am I even talking to you? You're just, just- oh!"

"Just what, Wallace Lawrence? Just what?"

"I'm not Wallace Lawrence! I'm just Wally, okay! Wallace Rudolph West! That's it! No Lawrence, no Crock. Wally." Wally stood up from the table, sighing as he did. "Listen... mom. I'm leaving. I'll be back in a few hours." The teen grabbed a jacket on his way out. It was summer, but he did anyway. He opened the front door and left.

Only one person could explain this whole thing to him, Wally decided. Robin.

He started walking toward Wayne Manor.

Back at CADMUS...

"Least we got out without being zapped this time," Robin remarked grimly as he dodged a flying genomorph.

"Zapped?" Artemis skidded to a stop just long enough to flash Robin an incredulous stare, literally, before speeding off again. "You guys got zapped? So,we could have gotten zapped? Why does nobody bother to tell me this stuff?!"

"Kinda forgot it happened," the former Boy Wonder admitted. He gave a grunt as he swiped at another genomorph using the blades of his new water bearers.

Artemis dodged a frenzy of attacking fists from a particularly angry genomorph, and then tricked it into smashing into a wall. "How do you forget something like that?"

"Hey, it's not the worst form of torture I've been through. I mean, I'm Batman's partner! Batman! Well, I guess, not anymore..."

"I'm still confused," Megan announced. She wasn't fighting; more like standing off to the side and looking uncomfortable in her cloned body. She kept staring at her hands, which were a healthy pink, and slightly larger than her Martian appendages. "We've switched powers? And backgrounds? And histories? How did it all happen?"

"Yes, yes, yes, and we don't know," Artemis replied hurriedly, barely keeping herself from talking at superspeed.

"And I've traded places with Conner? I no longer have my psychic abilities, my levitation skills, or my camo powers?"

"Yes and yes," Robin confirmed. He dodged another swipe from a genomorph, and then stuck a water bearer against its chest. The genomorph convulsed for a few seconds as electricity surged through its body, and then dropped to the ground with a heavy thud. Robin glanced around, and, seeing no more conscious genomorphs, pumped one fist in the air. "I finally got a handle on these water bearers! Sweet!"

"I am grateful that you have learned to effectively use your new weapons," Kaldur interjected, "but I believe we must be going now." He motioned to the door at the opposite end of the hallway, which was quickly filling with more of the genetically enhanced creatures.

Robin made a "let-me-think-about-that" face before nodding swiftly. "You're right. Let's make like a banana and split!"

Artemis grabbed two fistfuls of her blond hair before snarling, "Did you really just say that?"

"Yeah."

"RUN!" Megan shouted suddenly. She grabbed Kaldur, and, using her newly-acquired super strength, lifted him into the air, and used her greater speed to sprint to the door. Artemis slung Robin onto her back, ignored his indignant squawk, and followed Megan and Kaldur.

Megan and Artemis slid toward what Artemis could only guess was an elevator. Megan put Kaldur back on his feet, grabbed the edges of the door with her fingertips, and pried them open. Artemis grinned at her friend's display of strength.

Robin turned the tables at that moment. He twisted off Artemis's back and then grabbed her around the waist. He grabbed what she could only guess was a grappling hook from Kaldur's belt and fired it into the shaft. Artemis tried not to scream as she was suddenly dangling in the air, suspended only by Robin's arm.

"Not so funny now, is it?" he taunted. Artemis could only imagine the smug smirk on his face at he moment.

"Shut up and go up!"

Kaldur appeared next to them, holding a second grappling hook in one hand and a sheepish Megan in the other. "Press the button on the left side," Robin advised the Atlantean. "It'll pull you both up."

Kaldur nodded, fumbling with the button for a few moments before he managed to press the button one-handed. Robin copied him as he and Artemis whooshed to a top floor.

As they hurriedly turned a corner, Artemis suddenly stopped dead as Kaldur raised one hand into the air.

"We are not alone," he whispered. He motioned forward, and Robin leaned around the corner to spot another genomorph in what was once the lobby of the CADMUS building. But this one was part human, part monster. Not to mention that it didn't exactly look happy.

"Let me guess," Artemis hissed. "You guys had to fight this thing the first time, too?"

Robin nodded as he watched the creature. "Uh huh, yeah."

"Again, why doesn't anybody ever tell me this stuff?"

"Or me, either?" Megan crossed her arms and frowned. "We're a part of this team, too."

"I'll bet it was because they got the crap beaten out of them the first time," Artemis replied with a smirk.

"We did not!" Robin retorted loudly. The monster heard them and instantly made a dash toward his voice.

Artemis frowned, grabbed Megan, and zipped to the opposite side of the room. "Thanks a lot, Boy Blunder!" she called sarcastically.

"Stay traught!" Robin barely had time to dodge the meaty fists the creature threw at him.

Kaldur retrieved a few low-power explosives from the utility belt he wore and cast them in the creature's direction. They grazed against its arm, slicing the flesh, and imbedded into the wall next to Robin's head. Robin took a single glance at then before his eyes widened, and he flipped over the creature's head milliseconds before they went off. The creature snarled and turned, blood running from its harm, and black smoke covering its face.

"What is that thing?" Megan gasped. She was shocked,to say the least, that the monster was still alive.

"One of the scientists here at CADMUS," Robin replied quickly. "I don't think we ever did figure out who."

"How'd you beat it last time?" Artemis zipped up the monster, delivered a few super-speed hits, and dashed away again long enough to allow Robin to hit it a few times with the water bearers.

Robin nodded. "Artemis, distract it!"

"Got it!" Artemis readjusted the red goggles she had to wear before speeding around the monster repeatedly, successfully distracting it while Robin yanked Kaldur and Megan aside.

Robin held up the armband computer and pointed to a blueprint of the building."Megan, you have to use your super strength to smash the support pillars here, here, here, and here," he directed.

"But I don't know if I can," Megan replied, sounding a little timid.

"You can do it, M'gann," Kaldur answered, placing one hand of her shoulder. "Trust yourself."

Megan hesitated, and then gave a swift, fierce nod. "Okay."

"Good. Go!"

Artemis zipped away to allow Robin to fight for a while. Megan began smashing pillars with her fists. Artemis wondered if she was really mad, or if she was just trying harder to smash them. A deep rumbling, however, gave her all the incentive she needed to rush for the exit. Her teammates followed as the building collapsed, taking the monster down with it.

As the dust began to settle around the rubble, Artemis panted and shot a grin to the others. "Well that was... fun," she remarked breathlessly. "Except for where we almost died like, what, six times?"

"Worth it," Robin gasped. He pointed upwards, and Artemis glanced up to see the entire Justice League hovering above the destruction.

"Now this," he said, grinning slightly, "is the beginning of the Team."

**A/N Little shorter** **than was the intent, but, hey, it's a chapter! Like always, still accepting votes and suggestions.**

**If you do not review, I will send a giant, mutated genomorph to your house to trash your room. Seriously. Review. Now.**


	9. Tales of Redheaded Troublemakers

**A/N And here's to chapter nine! Sorry for the delay. I got an idea for another fic and started working obsessively on it. On the other hand, I'm going to cut down on my update schedule. Y'know, life and all...**

**Forgot to mention this last chapter, but we hit the fifty review mark! And then proceeded to pass it with fifty-eight! Geeking here... Give yourself a hug and say it's from me, because I love you guys so much! **

**Officially no longer accepting votes on the Roy/Jade switch. But~~ still accepting names for Wally! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but paper, a pencil, a tablet, and a frying pan, all of which I use for beating canon and the heads of ginger speedsters (see chapter seven lol)**

Roy Harper, or Red Arrow, as was his name these days, stood in the main room of the Cave. Before him stood eight members of the Justice League, all of them looking stoic despite the situation. Well, at least Batman, Black Canary, and Red Tornado did. Martian Manhunter looked a little worried, but he remained calm. Green Arrow twitched his fingers. Aquaman's nervousness was clear on his face, but he stood still. Flash didn't even try to hide his impatience. He shifted from one foot to the other, checked his watch under his glove, cracked his fingers, and basically didn't stop moving. Even Superman was there, trying to stay cool, but ended up looking agitated anyway.

Red Arrow's face twisted into a smirk. "So let me get this straight. They were fighting, so you tried to send them into an alternate universe, but it failed, but it also worked, and they're there now."

"Yes." Batman nodded.

"And you need me to get you out of your own little mess?"

"Roy..." Green Arrow warned. His fingers stopped wriggling as he looked toward his former sidekick with a frown.

The archer just smirked even more. "Behold, the invincible Justice League has to come before the lowly ex-sidekick to beg for assistance."

"Roy..."

Red Arrow finally took the hint and stopped taunting, but he didn't let up on the smirk, even when Batman began to glare. "Why do you need my help, anyway?"

"It is quite complicated." Martian Manhunter stepped forward, his large eyebrows down. "When I created the alternate universe, it had... flaws. Flaws that did not allow it to function in the way intended. However, it was powerful enough in the original initiation that each of our partners received a momentary glimpse of what the universe was like. However, it was at this moment that the universe crashed and failed."

Roy nodded, faint traces of an amused grin still evident on his face. "Continue."

"The glimpse they received was just powerful enough that when they went into an unconscious state of mind-"

"They fell asleep," Flash offered. He was still restless, shifting his weight from his left foot to his right and back again. Red Arrow also didn't fail to notice that he bit his lip from time to time.

"-their collective memories of their experiences were enough to recreate the universe in their own heads, this time, flawlessly. The universe exists, without a hitch."

"So...I fail to see the problem. I thought you wanted to send them into the alternate universe?"

"The reality is not under my own control." Martian Manhunter's eyebrows went down even farther. "It is being influenced by an outside element, one that I cannot alter. The are trapped in the universe, in their own minds. And the one who controls them is not doing the deed for good, but to harm our protégés."

Red Arrow's smirk was long gone, and he stared at Martian Manhunter with rage in his eyes. "So they're comatose, and you can't wake them up?"

"There's more to it than that," Black Canary added. "Their fantasy has become their reality. Their link with this new dimension is so powerful that if they were to believe they were dead in this alternate universe, they would die here, too."

"Their lives are in danger?! What kind of mentors are you?"

"Calm down, Red Arrow." Aquaman stepped forward and laid one hand on the archer's shoulder. "This is where you come in"

Red Arrow snarled and shoved Aquaman's hand away, but turned to Batman with a patented teenaged glare. "What do I need to do?"

"Manhunter will use his psychic abilities to send you into their reality. Because you are being sent in under our control, we can wake you just by breaking the connection. Also, if you die in the reality, you will not die here."

"Good to know," Red Arrow replied sarcastically.

"Your goal is to find out who is controlling the reality. When you do, Manhunter will remove you from it and bring you back to real life. However, we have determined that there are some rules that cannot be broken in this alternate universe, lest you endanger the Team.

"You cannot force them to meet each other. The other members will meet each other as intended. You cannot tell anyone else why you are in the reality, and what is going on. And there is one other complication."

"Yeah?"

"The Team is a little... mixed up there."

Red Arrow squinted suspiciously. "Meaning?"

"They have different backgrounds there than they do in real life. We don't know the full extent of what happened, but we have gathered that they have, in essence, switched lives. You must not treat the switched members any differently than you do the original members in real life."

"But what does that mean?"

"You must treat the new Aqualad the same way you treat the old one. Likewise with the rest of the team. As for who has switched with who, we're not sure. So far, Robin, Miss Martian, Aqualad, and Artemis have met up with each other. Superboy and Kid Flash are still unaccounted for."

"Is there an alternate me in this universe?"

"Yes." Martian Manhunter nodded. "But I have managed to erase him from the reality. You will be the only Red Arrow there. Remember, find out who is behind this. Do not treat the Team any differently. And do not enforce their meetings."

"Okay." Red Arrow sighed, and then straightened. "Let's do this."

Manhunter nodded, placed his fingers on his temples, and closed his eyes. That was the last thing Roy remembered before the back of his head exploded into nothingness.

Gotham City was, in a word, dark. And sinister. And downright scary. Not that Wally would ever admit that. But he did admit that he was not keen on the two hour walk it had take him to get out of Gotham and get to Wayne Manor. Not to mention how relieved he was that his best friend would soon answer all his questions. Like, who was that woman? Why did she think she was Wally's mom? Why did she know his name, and yet she called him Wallace Lawrence Crock? Wallace Rudolph West was bad enough, but at least it was his name, and people didn't try to change it on him.

Also, why did he wake up in Gotham? He was in his room in the cave, the last thing he remembered. He remembered thinking that he hated Artemis, and that he had never touched her bow. Her arrows? Sure, plenty of times. He had one as a souvenir, after all. But her bow? It was suicide.

Wally was vaguely aware of several things. One, he didn't feel a constant need to run and run for no particular reason. Also, he wasn't as hungry as he usually was. He was, for once, keeping pace with his own thoughts. His mind wasn't running at a mile a millisecond, which was starting to bother him.

He sincerely hoped the smaller bat he called a friend could help. With a speedster's luck, though, Robin probably fabricated the whole thing himself.

He glanced up and eyed the wrought-iron gate that surrounded Wayne Manor. With any luck, he could talk his way past Agent A and get in there to chew out Dick.

He pressed the button on the pillar beside him, knowing it connected to a speaker inside the Manor.

"Hello?" asked Alfred. Wally grinned at the sound of the butler's voice. Butler or no, Wally was grateful for a little familiarity.

"Hey, Alfred. It's me, Wally West. Listen, I've got to talk to Dick. Let me in?"

A very long pause followed. Wally frowned.

"I'm afraid you have the wrong house, Master West. I know no one by that name, and there is no one named Dick at this residence."

Wally's heart dropped to his toes. "Alfred? Don't kid me, dude. Where's Dick?"

"I'm afraid you are mistaken, sir. Have a nice day."

"No! Alfred! Don't you dare-"

A low beep indicated that the man had already hung up.

Wally ran his hand through his hair, making it all stick up on end. This day could not get any worse. At this rate, in order to talk to Robin, he'd have to infiltrate the stupid Batcave.

"Wait a second." Wally crossed one arm over his chest thoughtfully, placing the hand of his other arm on his chin. "No. It's impossible. Bats would kick my butt, then kill me, then kick my butt again. On the other hand..." He snapped his fingers suddenly.

Instinct told him he was an idiot, and to drop the idea. But Artemis also told him the same thing. And he never listened to Artemis, why bother listening to instinct if it was going to tell him the same thing?

Wally West, Kid Flash, was going to break into the Batcave.

**A/N Double cliffhanger! Muwhahaha! Okay, so he has no common sense. But he's also a genius. Kinda like me... Hm...**

**Apologies for OOC-ness on behalf of the League. I'm a fan of Young Justice, not Justice League. Don't ask me why.**

**Until next time, my pretties!**


	10. Meeting in the Mountain

**A/N Hey-o! Chapter ten! I dunno if this is an important milestone or not,but never fear! This story is ending up being way longer then I anticipated, so we're going to have lots more fun! Gee, I kinda sound like the Joker... *shivers***

**I have an idea for a new fic that I have been working on, and the first chapter is done. I'm considering uploading the first chapter, but I will not upload any farther than that until I finish this story. What do you say? Upload chapter one, and leave it, or leave it alone completely until this is finished? The new story is not really a humor fic, more like an adventure story, and although the first chapter is Wally and Artemis centric, the story features the whole team as equally main characters. Also, this will not be a spitfire fic, although there will be very minor hints that pass as the two of them working together.**

**So, if I get five people saying yes, post the first chapter, I will. If not, I'll wait until later. So there you go! Incentive to review!**

**Disclaimer: I write this stuff for fun. I'm just whelmed...**

Roy Harper was not often anxious. But when he was, one could count on the fact that the situation was very dangerous, highly life-threatening, and downright scary. So when he woke up with a racing heartbeat, heavy breathing, and sweaty palms, he knew something was up.

Then he remembered.

"Curse you, Manhunter," he muttered to himself, sitting up. He was lying on the couch in his apartment, and it was painfully obvious that he had slept there, if the crick in his neck was anything to go by.

A quick glance around the room told him that nothing had changed. It was a little dirtier than it usually was, the way it was when he first began to rent it. He frowned at this and stood, grabbing his bow as he stalked out the door. He was on a mission.

Meanwhile, the newly refounded Team was being introduced to Mount Justice for the second time. "How cool is this?" Artemis asked aloud, taking a few steps forward and grinning. "We're in the actual Mount Justice!"

Robin also grinned, but for a different reason. Mainly, because he was thinking back to a few days ago when the Team had infiltrated CADMUS a second time. If it had been funny watching the Flash chew out Wally, it was even funnier when he chewed out Artemis. Why? Because Artemis wouldn't take any of it and argued the whole time. The expression on Flash's face had been priceless. Had he been mischievous Robin and not the mild-mannered Dikel'ahm, he would have taken a picture. As it was, he had missed several good photo opportunities.

"Indeed we are," Kaldur replied, agreeing with Artemis. He pretended to look amazed, as well, but he, Megan, Robin, and Artemis knew it was just for show. Despite not having a mind-link, they all knew that the others were overjoyed at the return to their base.

Megan tried to readjust her black T-shirt, one with a large red Superman symbol. She had felt uncomfortable in the new costume, which also sported dark leather boots that reached her mid-calf and dark jeans. But she agreed to wear it for the sake of keeping up appearances. All in all, she didn't look bad in it, but it was a little strange to see her with light peach-colored skin rather than her healthy green.

Also, Kaldur's domino mask? It looked just weird. Robin thought it hysterical that he was now called Sparrow, for reasons he didn't quite get. But he was likewise annoyed with the fact that Artemis was taunting him with his new Atlantean name, Dikel'ahm. Of course, the nickname "Flash Girl" was always useful to shut her up.

Megan called herself Supergirl, for lack of a better name. However, she had strongly stuck with the earth name Megan and refused to change it for a name starting with a C. Why? She didn't know a Clark Kent and didn't think he would appreciate her naming herself after him if she already had a name. However, she did agree to drop the name Morse and called herself Megan Kent, if only to appease her overeager teammates, mainly, Artemis and Robin.

The situation between Megan and Superman was tense, albeit slightly less so than it had been with Conner. Although the Man of Steel avoided her, he wasn't quite ignoring her, either. After CADMUS, Megan told the others that Superman had approached her. He had only said that the League would take care of her, but Megan smiled at him and thanked him, and Superman had even smiled back. Robin suspected that Megan's sweet, open personality was easier for the Kryptonian to accept than Conner's impulsive, brash rebelliousness.

Robin still wasn't quite used to being called Aqualad. Yeah, the water bearers were neat, but he still felt a little more energetic than he supposed Kaldur was. At least he didn't have a crew cut.

His skills with Atlantean water-sorcery, however, were lacking. When Kaldur had attempted to show him a few basics, Robin had accidentally zapped him slightly. While Kaldur was unharmed, he refused to teach Robin anything else until he at least figured out how to keep the electricity off.

He was also unused to having to keep hydrated more than usual. He ended up swimming more often than ever before, but was a little confused as to why plain water was irritating to his skin. It wasn't until Kaldur told him to swim in salt water that he realized his new Atlantean physique had a slight intolerance to fresh water if he wasn't drinking it.

Kaldur's job as the "Boy Wonder" was not going well. His new school in Gotham academy was out for the summer, but he still had to keep up Robin's reputation as a mathlete. When he had seen some of the higher math levels the younger teen studied, he had promptly blanched and left the room hurriedly.

Artemis's position as Girl Flash was still a little amusing from time to time. Her stomach would begin to growl at an inopportune moment, and she had already passed out once from ignoring it. Fortunately for her, Robin knew what to do from having been in the same situation with Wally repeatedly, and she was completely recovered within five minutes. They wisely agreed not to mention the incident to Flash.

Her new costume was a different story. She found it quite amusing that the suit had extra padding on the back, elbows, and knees. When she asked Robin about it, he admitted that Wally often tripped over potholes when on patrol, and tended to curl into a ball and roll nearly a mile. The extra padding was always necessary. Artemis laughed, until she accidentally slid through a puddle while going a little faster than she'd intended, and then agreed entirely. The padding was necessary.

Artemis was also a little annoyed to find that she now had summer school. Apparently, while Wally was a science wizard, English was not his best subject. Artemis hadn't really been angry, though, for some reason that was completely beyond the former Boy Wonder.

Of course, most of these interactions occurred secretly. Usually over a secure line that Robin had created using a few cell phones he had swiped from Wayne Tech. Using his basic knowledge of mechanics, he had adapted each one to easily withstand the new lifestyle of the heroes. Kaldur's and Artemis's phones had heavier, more durable casing, in case Kaldur's fell out of his pocket while he was training, and Artemis's to endure the heavy wind battering it while she ran. Megan's phone was larger, harder, thicker, and more basic than the others. Hopefully she couldn't accidentally smash it with her new super strength. Robin's own phone was waterproof. No big surprise there.

Now, a select few members of the League were showing them Mount Justice. While it appeared to be the teens' first expedition to the site, they were secretly relishing the fact that they were finally spending some time in their new old home.

"Got to admit, this place is pretty cool," Artemis said aloud. She was starting to act more and more like Wally everyday. Probably the ADD, or the fact that the original speedster wasn't around to rile her. Robin pointed out to her that she was starting to develop the speedster personality, and she had instantly reverted back to the old Artemis and threatened to shoot him through the temples and roast his brain on a spit. Good old Artemis.

Megan nodded. "Yeah," she agreed, probably the first thing she had said all day. She was becoming quieter lately. Robin wondered if Conner's sullen mood was getting to her, or if she just missed him. He suspected the latter, but if he wasn't mistaken...

"Team," Batman's voice crackled through the intercom. "Report to Mission Control."

"Alright!" Robin whooped, and then gave a quick glance around to make sure no one heard him. "I mean... come on, Team. We must do as the Batman says." All things considered, he did a poor impression of Kaldur.

As if in reply, the former Atlantean wrinkled his nose. "That is not what I sound like."

Artemis shrugged. "At least the weird words have stopped. No more whelmed or traught."

Entering Mission Control, the four stopped suddenly as the zeta-tube powered up, announcing the arrival of Martian Manhunter and a guest. Two figures materialized, the form of the Martian, and a slightly shorter figure. Megan could barely contain her joy when she recognized him.

"Team, this is Martian Manhunter and his nephew," Batman announced, apparently oblivious to the grins that appeared on the teens' faces. "Meet C'nner M'orzz."

"Hi."

"Hello."

"C'nner" nodded and smiled slightly, or, rather, smiled as much as Conner can. He glanced at Megan for a moment before his white shirt morphed into a black one as he remarked to her, "I like your shirt."

Megan smiled back shyly. "Thank you."

At this, Artemis elbowed Robin lightly and muttered, "You'd think it's the first time they've ever met."

As if on cue, Batman and the Martian Manhunter stepped away. Robin waited until they were out of earshot before remarking, "You look very different with green skin."

Conner nodded and glanced down at his grass-colored hand. "I know."

"But besides the costume and the skin, you look exactly the same." Artemis noted. "You even have the same height and build."

"As far as I know, I don't have any of my abilities as a clone. So super strength and super jump is gone. But I can shape shift now, though it took me a while to figure it out."

Megan stepped up to Conner and pecked her lips against his green cheek. "I missed you," she whispered.

Robin instantly made a gagging sound while trying to contain his laughter. Artemis's elbow being shoved into his side helped immensely, making him wheeze slightly. A glare from Kaldur silenced him completely, whereas Megan and Conner remained blissfully unaware.

"Any idea what happened?" Conner asked finally.

"Kaldur thinks our pasts and origins have been changed, giving us each others' roles and powers," Robin volunteered. "Also, we have no idea how to change back."

"Robin!"

"What? It's true!"

Conner raised his eyebrows as he took in the sight of his teammates and their switched costumes. Artemis in the yellow and red Girl Flash suit, her blond ponytail poking out the back. Robin, with a red sleeveless shirt, dark blue pants, and no mask, with water bearers poking out from behind his shoulders and flaps of skin on his neck indicating gills. Megan's black shirt with a red symbol, dark jeans, and leather boots, with a blue headband holding back her red-brown hair from her Caucasian skin. And Kaldur's Sparrow costume, with a red chest, yellow belt, and black and yellow cape, black-edged domino mask in his hand, as he found it uncomfortable to wear, and took it off as often as he could.

"You look great, M'gann, but you guys? You look ridiculous."

"See? Told you!"

"Since you're obviously not going to name yourself Miss Martian," Robin remarked, earning a muffled snicker from Artemis and glares from Kaldur and Conner, "what are you going to call yourself?"

Conner's mouth quirked on one side. "Been thinking about that. How about Young Martian?"

Robin cocked his head. "It's pretty original. And appropriate."

"I like it," Megan told him with a smile.

"Me too," Artemis agreed.

Kaldur nodded his approval. "Then Young Martian, meet Aqualad, Supergirl, and Girl Flash. And I am Sparrow."

"It is a pleasure to have this opportunity to make your acquaintance," Robin said, using his Atlantean voice and grinning madly the whole time.

"Shut up."

Suddenly Artemis paled and turned to her teammates. "Guys? I just realized something."

"What's that?"

"We've all traded lives, and there's only one of us left to have my life."

"Okay..."

"Wally is a Crock."

Robin nodded, chewing the inside of his cheek gently. "I fail to see the problem."

"What if he does something stupid? I mean, he doesn't know anything about my life. What if he messes it up completely?"

"Come on, Artemis. Wally might be lacking his fair share of common sense, but he's not an idiot. He knows better than to panic and lose his head. What's the stupidest thing he could do?"

"Break into the Batcave."

"There's a Batcave?" Megan interrupted.

"Really? Wally isn't going to do that. Wally West would never break into the Batcave."

**A/N It would appear that Robin overestimates Wally's intelligence... or does he? Little something for you to think about, huh! Sorry Roy isn't here, but I have to drop at least one of my "meanwhile" plots. He'll show up later with the main Team, and he'll pop up to see Wally, too, don't worry!**

**Fun fact! Whelmed and aster are real words! To whelm means to submerge something in water, and aster is a species of purple flowers. Now you're even smarter!**

**So am I posting the first chapter of that new fic? Your choice!**

**Because I have always wanted to do this...**

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	11. Wally Finds A Bow

**A/N THIS IS A LONG AUTHOR'S NOTE! PLEASE READ THE WHOLE THING! IT IS VERY IMPORTANT!**

**Okay, first, I'm going to apologize for waiting as long as I did for this. I have no good excuse except my own laziness. So now I feel like a big jerk. This chapter was just really hard, and I don't know why. I had practically no inspiration for it. Maybe that's because I got five reviews last chapter, instead of my usual seven to nine. It's a little depressing. So, vicious cycle. You don't review, I take longer to update. So review.**

**Also, I've been meaning to mention this for a long time, but a buddy of mine on this site, AlyssPotter, is writing a super-awesome story that is an AU Spitfire fic called As Friendly As They Get, and it. Is. Awesome. BUT she hardly getting any reviews for it, like, two a chapter, and it makes me feel bad for complaining about five... Anyway, go read her story! Like now! And review it! And be nice... but review it!**

**Disclaimer: The day I own Young Justice is the day pigs will fly, the sky will fall, and my brother will share his cookies. I don't even have a brother. So I won't own.**

**Ooh, lookie, I remembered to use line breaks...**

* * *

Flipping through the clothes in the closet, Wally settled on a black turtleneck sweater, and yanked it over his head. A black mask would be kind of nice to have, considering that his red hair was a dead giveaway.

Aw, man, there was that word again.

"Don't say that word!" he lectured himself. "Don't think about dying! Yes, Batman is going to kill you, but don't think about it!"

So much for hyping himself up.

He flopped down onto the still-unmade bed with a sigh and ran his fingers through his hair, making it stick up even farther. His "plan" to "infiltrate" the Batcave was obviously a little lacking in details. And originality. And pretty much all planning in general.

He knew the security system was sophisticated. It was the BATCAVE. Home of THE Batman, the Dark Knight, who should probably get a prize for world's most paranoid non-meta. Actually, scratch that. Make it THE most paranoid guy ever. There were no metas that were as paranoid as him.

From what he knew (which was very little) the Batcave was outfitted with heat sensors, motion sensors, and who-knows-how-many security cameras. And if he wasn't mistaken, the Batcomputer (seriously, most unoriginal name ever) had a special system that was designed for the sole purpose of stopping or eliminating all of the members of the Justice League in the event that they went rogue.

Ah, who was he kidding. The Batcave could stop the Flash. And he was just Kid Flash. He couldn't even vibrate through walls!

But there was something wrong. Really, really, wrong, and Dick was the only person he knew who could explain it. Wally wasnt entirely sure why Alfred said what he did. Forget that. He had no idea why Alfred said that. But it definitely scared him.

Robin could be in trouble.

And he didn't proudly carry the title of Robin's best friend so that he could sit around while his buddy needed him.

Wally hopped back up and stalked back over to the closet. While he doubted he would find his goggles in here, which could help as a mask, he could maybe find a substitute. A pair of glasses or some other eye wear.

What he found instead only served to confuse him further.

"Hold on. Why's there a bow and arrow in here?" He picked up the two objects and examined them. "They kinda look like..."

He adjusted the bow so that the grip lay in the center of his palm, and nocked the arrow against the string. He held it up the way he had always seen Artemis hold hers, and tugged the string backwards. To his surprise, it barely moved.

Wally frowned. Maybe this bow was the reason that it hurt so much when Artemis punched him.

He set the bow and arrow down on the bed and picked up the cellular phone lying on the dresser. He searched "how to shoot a bow and arrow". After all, it was apparently his. Might as well use it. But he had learn how.

The search results were less than satisfying. The only video he could find was some blond with a very high-tech looking bow and a squeaky voice that he couldn't understand. There were written instructions available, but they had no pictures to help him get it. Wally finally tossed the phone aside and tried to copy what he had seen Artemis do.

After trying several times to draw back the string, he decided that maybe it was best that he had never learned how to use medieval weaponry. He dug through the closet again, this time surfacing with a quiver full of arrows, all of them tipped with steel heads and with green fletching.

"Just like Artemis's arrows," he thought to himself curiously.

He slung the quiver onto his back and shouldered the bow. He had some arrows to shoot and a Batcave to break into. Maybe.

Probably not. But maybe he could try. And die. He'd have to think about this for a while.

* * *

"So, no missions from Red Tornado?" Artemis remarked, seeing Robin (Aqualad, she reminded herself) walking into the room with a thoughtful expression on his unmasked face. It was still kind of weird seeing him like that.

She should have known that a thoughtful Robin is a scheming Robin. He gave a sly grin and shook his head before saying, "Actually, yes, we do have a mission."

Megan perked up at once, staring at Robin excitedly. "We do? When? What is it? Who is it?"

"One question at a time, Megs!" Artemis exclaimed. "Seriously, though, who is it?"

Robin's eyebrows went up, then down. "Dunno. That's what we're supposed to find out."

Conner glanced up. "There's a disturbance in Happy Harbor, if I remember correctly," he announced.

Kaldur set down his Atlantean book, which Robin had so "gracefully" lent him (he couldn't read a word anyhow), and stood. "How do you know this?"

"I remember from last time." The former Kryptonian shrugged. "It's Mister Twister. You guys seriously don't remember?"

"Mister Twister! Of course!" Artemis smacked her forehead. "Who is that?"

"An android with the ability to control weather," Robin answered, holding up Kaldur's arm while he typed on the holographic screen. An image of the android appeared, and Artemis stared at it intently. "At first we thought he was Tornado in disguise, but it wasn't. Anyhow, Conner, you'll have to pilot the bioship, unless, Megan, you think you can do it without smashing it. No offense."

"None taken," she replied lightly. "Super strength and all. But I think I should let Conner do it."

The five teens filed into the other room, where the bioship was at rest in an egg shape. Conner reached out and brushed his hand against the side gently, and the ship instantly transformed into the sleek, aerodynamic shape they knew so well.

As they climbed on board, Artemis began to stretch out her limbs, pulling her red goggles from her pocket and adjusting the strap as she asked, "What are we up against?"

"All the powers of Red Tornado in addition to some other storm powers, like lightning and water control, if we're counting dark, creepy clouds." Robin, frustrated, slipped the glove off Kaldur's arm and placed it on his own, then resumed typing. "Conner, how long until we get there?"

Conner scowled. "I dunno. Megan?"

"About five minutes," she replied automatically, leaning over toward Conner to inspect his driving skills. They were apparently satisfactory, because after freezing in that position for a few moments, she settled fic into her own seat with a sigh and lovingly brushed one hand over the surface of the control board before her.

"I won't wreck, Megan," Conner insisted. "Trust me."

"Yeah, right," Robin scoffed. "Next he'll be asking which way to turn at the intersection."

"You troll. There are no intersections in- oh, why do I even bother?"

Robin cackled.

"Shut up, Dikel'ahm."

He shut up.

Five minutes later, the five teens were entering a warehouse only to see a black and red android making whirlwinds and causing chaos. He seemed upset by the arrival of the teen heroes.

"I was hoping to get some real heroes' attention!"

"We're real heroes!" Artemis blurted. "And we'll prove it!" She instantly snapped her goggles into place and smirked. "Let's do this!"

She dashed toward Mister Twister, only to be picked up by a great wind and thrown across the room. Robin winced as she stood up slowly. "You guys have a plan, or should I just do that again?"

Robin replied by drawing the water bearers, both of which began to glow. Kaldur retrieved three bombs from his pockets, positioning them between his fingers and pulling his arm back, preparing to throw. Megan doubled up her fists and got into a defensive stance while Conner floated in the air tensely.

Artemis rolled her eyes. "Do it again, then. Okay."

Megan ran toward the robot, dodging whirlwinds with her agility advantage, and almost made it close enough to the android to hit it before he blasted her away with wind point-blank range, throwing her against the wall and leaving a huge Kryptonian dent.

Conner growled and picked up two fallen support beams with telepathy, hurtling them toward the robot. Mister Twister dodged before throwing him away with a wind tunnel.

Robin and Kaldur exchanged a glance before Robin promptly vanished. Seconds later, he reappeared behind the android and slashed it with the water bearers, now in the shape of short swords. Mister Twister was unaffected. He spun around and backhanded Robin, sending him flying.

Kaldur flicked his wrist, sending the three bombs spinning toward him. One missed, and the other two imbedded into the metal chest. Mister Twister flicked them away with one finger, only to be attacked from behind by Artemis, who had recovered, and rejoined the fight. Robin appeared seconds later, using his Atlantean super strength to dent the android. Megan stood in front of the robot, and both Robin and Artemis backed away before the girl of steel delivered a crushing punch to the robot's chest before it toppled to the ground.

"Did we win?" Conner asked. A faint bruise was forming on his temple, probably the first bruise he had even gotten.

"Yep!" Artemis zipped up to them and planted one hand her hip. "We work like that."

That was the last thing Conner remembered her saying before he suddenly couldn't breathe, and dark spots stained his vision, and everything went black...

* * *

**A/N Say what? What have I done? Another cliffhanger no... me am idiot... So! Probably going to take a while for the next chapter (hopefully not this long though) because turns out I know zero about Batcave security, nor how to get past it. But! Review me, review my friend, blah, blah, blah, see you later!**

**On an off note, I watched Homefront on Netflix. I had the subtitles on because I'm like that... anyway, they spelled traught wrong. T-R-O-T. I died right then and there. :P**


	12. Batcave Break-in

**A/N Randoming here... So I was talking to myself the other day about something completely unimportant, and I accidentally did something really weird while I was talking, at which point I stopped, stared for a second, and said, "Well, that's a little dissettling," and it sounded so ROBIN that I had to tell you... also accidentally told my friend who does not like superheroes to "stay traught", and she just kinda looked at me funny until I realized what I said. Fun times...**

**Sorry for the wait, I was trying to figure out how to figure out a believable way for Wally to break into the Batcave without him actually breaking in, but not being a complete idiot and failing before he starts. This is what happened and I don't regret it.**

**Disclaimer: I'm running out of interesting ways to say this... If I owned YJ, any time skip would have lasted maybe one year at best, and we'd have an explanation for the season two lack of Chalant, a more involved Searocket relationship, and lethal amounts of angst-filled teen Spitfire. Since we have none of those, I guess the show isn't mine.**

* * *

It was midnight, and Wally was standing in front of Wayne Manor.

"Alright," Wally thought to himself. "Breaking in. Can't be that hard. I mean, like, Catwoman, and them, they do it all the time. But they also have a lot of experience."

He glanced slightly to his left, where the gate of the wrought-iron fence surrounding Wayne Manor, towering above his head at about eight feet tall.

"They also aren't stupid enough to break into the home of Batman. Okay, okay, stop that. Just... do it."

He set the bow and quiver down in the grass beside him behind a tree, and slipped a pair of dark glasses over his face. He thought for a moment, then pulled an arrow out of the quiver, one that he had identified as camera repeater. When fired next to a security camera, it would send out an electronic signal that would cause the camera to record on a constant repeat. He broke off the stick end and placed the repeater in his belt.

Getting down on his hands and knees in a sprinting position, he visually measured the fence before taking a running headstart, leaping, and grabbing the top of the fence. He pulled himself up and balanced on the top of the fence for a few seconds before hopping off and landing on the ground with the grace of an elephant.

"Okay," he panted to himself. "That wasn't too bad... I think."

He sprinted toward the building, careful to avoid the areas that he suspected would have cameras in them. After all, he only had one repeater, and he didn't want to waste it.

When he got the front door, Wally was dismayed to find that it had an electronic lock. After thinking for a second, he tapped in a pattern of numbers. Top left, bottom left, bottom right, top right, middle, left center, right center.

The lock beeped and opened.

Leave it to Batman to pick a pattern when he could choose far more random numbers, being the Batman and all.

He slipped inside, glanced around for cameras, and was relieved when he didn't find any. He sprinted for a hallway, heading for Bruce Wayne's study. Wally had been at Wayne Manor before, and he knew that the entrance to the Batcave was through there.

He just didn't know where.

Taking out the repeater, he opened the door slightly, revealing a camera in the far left corner of the room. It was pointing away from the door (seriously, what were the odds?) but it could move at any second. He weighed the repeater in his hand, lifted his arm, and tossed it toward the far wall.

It stuck, and the lights blinked red for a few seconds before turning green.

Kid Flash, one, Batman, zero.

He had to be dreaming.

Right?

He went in and shut the door behind him, locking it. Then he began to search the room, looking for a secret passageway, a false panel, anything. He even tried to lift up the head off a small statue in hopes of revealing a magic button.

Nothing.

Frustrated, he leaned against the grandfather clock and sighed. He had to get into the Batcave. He knew the way to get in was somewhere in this room, but if he couldn't find it, he was dead.

D-E-A-D, dead. Batman would kill him, then Uncle Barry would kill him, then Batman would resurrect him and kill him again.

The clock ticked behind his head when everything clicked.

Wally jumped up and faced the clock, reaching up and gently opening the glass over the face. His fingers moved up to hands, gently pushing the minute hand forward. The hour hand followed slowly. When it got to the correct time combination, the door would open.

Nine forty-five... ten o'clock... ten thirty... ten forty-five...

Smoke suddenly exploded around him, and he gasped and stumbled away from the clock, trying to find the door in the gas. The room around him spun crazily, and he tripped on something, faceplanting on the floor.

He saw a pair of combat boots enter his line of vision before everything went black.

When he woke up, he was lying on something soft... and itchy... He sat up in the grass outside and looked around. An older teen heard the movement and appeared before him, a girl, with thick, dark hair in a ponytail, a black tank top and khakis, and a black baseball cap. Small gold hoops dangled from her ears, and her dark eyes flashed angrily at him.

"You know," she said to him in a deep, seductive sounding voice, "I appreciate your enthusiasm, but two things. One, Bruce Wayne keeps all of his valuables in bank safe, not his house. And two, really? Bruce Wayne? Why were you messing with the clock?"

"What?"

Oh yeah, smart answer.

The girl glowered. "You heard me, Wallace. What were you thinking?"

"Uh..."

She sighed and dropped her forehead into her hand. "Look, I'm sorry I used knockout gas on you when you were clearly otherwise occupied. But Mr. Bigshot himself was going to come in there any second, and I doubt he would enjoy seeing one of us Crocks in his study playing with his... clock. We don't exactly have a good reputation, you know."

Wait a second... "Us Crocks?"

She let out an exasperated sigh. "Yes, us Crocks. Unless you finally disowned us and changed your name. There's a reason why I go by Nguyen now."

Wally's expression remained blank. "Who are you now?"

She glanced at him. "Did you hit your head? It's me, Jade. Your sister?"

"I have a sister?"

Jade frowned. "Yes, you have a sister. Me. Jade Nguyen. You know, the one who always wins in training?"

"Training?"

She sighed again. "Go home, Wallace. I'll let mother know you've gone off the deep end." She shook her head and turned to leave, but then started, like she remembered something. "And before I forget," she added, "Our father says for you to meet us for training in our usual place, the abandoned warehouse just outside of town."

She smiled sinisterly. "Don't be late."

And she disappeared from sight, leaving Wally to wonder what the heck just happened.

* * *

"Robin? Robin, wake up!"

Artemis was leaning over him, frowning and shaking him by the shoulders. When she saw he was awake, she sighed in relief and leaned back. "Jeez, Robin, don't do that again! I thought you were dead!"

"What happened?" the former Boy Wonder asked groggily, sitting up.

"We got in a fight with Mister Twister," Megan supplied from across the room. "He must have sucked the oxygen out of the room, because we all passed out. When we woke up, he was gone."

"You were out the longest," Artemis added. "We thought there was something wrong with you, like, you were dead, which is weird, because usually, Wally's the first one awake after we get knocked out, then you. Which, I guess is a little inaccurate now, because, you know..."

"Yeah, we know." Robin sat up. "Any idea where Twister went?"

Conner shrugged. "My guess? Happy Harbor. That's where he went last time."

"Yeah, but he didn't make us all pass out last time! There's no telling what he'll do different? And why'd it change, anyway? Nothing should have changed!"

"Our actions changed from what they were," Kaldur replied as his eyes narrowed. "As our actions changed, so did the consequences. We may have an idea of what will happen, but every time we respond differently than we would have as a result, the next situation will change in accordance."

"We should check out Happy Harbor," Artemis suggested. "If we don't find him, we can always look somewhere else. Right now, it's our only lead, and if we can't handle this, there's no telling what the League will think. They might even find out that we, you know, and they'll think we're crazy. Not that I'd tell, or that any of us would, but, I mean, you guys know Batman. He's... Batman. He'd know."

Robin groaned as she chattered. "Stop babbling! None of that is important."

"Is too important! And I'm not babbling!"

"You are so babbling!"

"Am not! Now, come on." Artemis stood up and yanked Robin to his feet. "Sparrow, I'm sure, has an idea, right?"

"Who? Oh, yeah, Kaldur. We really have to start calling each other by our, uh, different names."

"That is true." The former Atlantean nodded. "And I do have a plan, but it is identical to the plan we used to defeat Mister Twister previously."

Artemis's hand shot into the air. "Uh, Kaldur? I mean, Sparrow? I wasn't really here."

"Team, return to the bioship. We will review there."

With that, Sparrow, Girl Flash, Aqualad, Supergirl, and Young Martian ran away.

* * *

**A/N Can you say, "sucky ending"? Yep, me too.**

**I have no idea when I can or will update next. Please bear with me, as I will have a new chapter up at least by (enter some future time period). Sorry, guys.**

**Review. Please. My cupboards of inspiration are bare while I have a Flash's appetite for opinions. I need them. **


	13. Training with the Family

**A/N Crap happened. Did not update. Longer chapter to make up for it. Sorry, guys.**

**Disclaimer: don't own**

* * *

At midnight, Wally West (Crock? He wasn't really sure right now) was on the roofs of Gotham, with his new bow strapped to his back, along with a quiver-ful of arrows. "Okay," he said to himself, leaping a gap between two buildings. "That Jade person said to meet her and my apparent dad at a warehouse just outside the city."

Fortunately, after having done patrol with Robin from time to time, he knew his way around Gotham, and had a pretty good idea of the warehouse she had spoken of. It was just your average warehouse, mostly concrete, with a few windows. If he remembered correctly, the warehouse itself was the only one in the area, with the number 907.

Were there nine hundred seven warehouses in Gotham or what?

And yes, he had no super-speed.

Which, y'know, sucked, but he suspected there was something more to it than that. So instead of fussing about it, which was sure to get Paula upset that he was going insane (which he likely was), he sucked it up and tried to figure out what was going on.

For example, wasn't Artemis's last name Crock? And why, according to the newspaper, was it only mid-July?

And lastly, who were these people he was supposed to meet, aside from the fact that they were supposedly his dad and sister?

He didn't have a sister!

He slid to a stop at the edge of someone's house, shortly wondering if the person would mind the scuff marks on his shingles, and scanned the horizon. If he was right about Warehouse 907, then that was it up ahead.

Wally slid down the drainpipe of the house, landing in the grass softly, like a ninja, and turning on the motion-detecting lights, not like a ninja. Rolling his eyes at his own clumsiness, which had increased since he lost his powers, apparently, he dashed off toward the warehouse. The enormous sliding wooden doors were unlocked, with the lock lying on the ground. Were those scratches on it, as if it had been picked?

He slid open one door and stepped into the vast emptiness beyond.

"Hello? Dude, anyone here, or was this some kind of wild goose chase for the laughs?"

"Why?" asked a silky voice. "Did you hear anyone laughing, little brother?"

Wally rolled his eyes and turned toward the woman named Jade, who was only half-visible in the shadows. "Right. Because I'm supposed to meet you here, and since you get the drop on me, you get to pick on me. I'm not your brother, okay? I don't even know who you are. Now what's the deal?"

Jade stepped out of the shadows with a sneer. She was wearing a short green kimono, and her black hair was big and frizzy. She looked vaguely familiar, now...

"Not much of a ninja anymore, are we?" she asked, sounding amused. "Guess it'll be even less of a challenge this time."

"Okay, now you're just confusing me. Who are you, really, and how do you know me?"

Jade frowned slightly before smirking. "Oh, Dad! Your precious son is here to see you!"

"Well, it's about time," remarked Wally's "dad", appearing from the far end of the room. "What's new, baby boy?"

"Okay, really? That's stupid, even for a kid nickname."

Mr. Crock was wearing blue and black armor of some kind, Wally noted. It looked very, very familiar. Dangerously so.

He glanced back at Jade just as the ebony fit a mask over her face. It was gray, with cat ears, red stripes, and a toothy grin...

Cheshire.

As if on cue, Mr. Crock pulled out a mask of his own, strapping it onto his head and leaving his blond hair sticking out from the top. A white mask, with eyeholes and smaller pinholes to breathe through.

Cheshire AND Sportsmaster?!

His dad and sister were assassins in the League of Shadows?!

"Nice of you to join us for a little training session," Sportsmaster remarked. "You haven't been showing up lately. What's that about? Been taking good care of your mother?"

Wally was a little too speechless to answer.

"Come on, Wallace," Cheshire added. "Enough talking and we can play a little game. You remember?"

"Jade, play nice," Sportsmaster taunted. "You two can spar on the count of three. Sound good?"

"Whatever," Cheshire hissed to him before turning back to Wally. "You up for it?"

"Remember, count of three. Three!"

Drawing her sai, Cheshire leapt forward. Wally dodged her first blow, which came dangerously close to his face. Super-speed would be a huge help in this fight, he noted.

Cheshire came back for another strike, slashing the air with her pronged weapon, and Wally dodged again, somersaulting to the left. He whipped out one arrow and threw it at her like a spear. She merely sidestepped, watched it bounce off the concrete, and glanced at him curiously.

"Oh, come on. It's not a real fight if you don't actually shoot it," she informed before whipping three shuriken at him. Wally panicked and threw up his arm to block his head while throwing himself to the right. One shuriken grazed his elbow, slicing the sleeve of his jacket. Jade stood still for a second, waiting for Wally to strike back. When he didn't move, she gave a half-shrug and charged again.

They fought like this for a few minutes, Cheshire attacking with sai and shuriken, and Wally dodging and moving away. When a shuriken actually embedded in his wrist, Wally gasped and grabbed it, staring at the weapon in shock. He didn't notice when Cheshire ran forward, jumped, and planted both feet in the center of his chest. She knocked him onto his back, crouching on his chest and grinning.

"Wallace," Sportsmaster sneered from where he leaned against the wall. "What kind of crap was that?"

Wally pushed Cheshire off him with his uninjured hand. Sportsmaster heaved himself off the wall, drawing his mace and spinning it. "I taught you better than that," the assassin snarled. "This is the kind of trash you give me for it?! Then I'll teach you again!"

He swung. Wally's eyes flew wide and he rolled away. The weapon missed him by an inch, slamming into the concrete next to his head with a sickening smash.

"Dad!" Jade shouted. "You're not supposed to kill him!"

Sportsmaster hefted his mace out of the ground and glared–at Wally or Jade, Wally couldn't tell which. "He needs to learn a lesson, Jade," the assassin insisted. "I won't stand for disobedience in this family."

"And killing him will help? Face it, Sportsmaster, Wallace doesn't want to be a part of your secret club of killers."

Well said, Jade, Wally thought to himself, still watching the man cautiously.

Wait. How did she know that?!

Sportsmaster just snarled, throwing the heavy end of the mace toward Wally. He dodged again, wincing as it again hit the ground, smashing the concrete.

"You'd better start practicing again, Wallace," Sportsmaster growled. "Because next time, I won't miss. Now excuse me, kids. I've got work to do." With that, he was gone.

"Wallace?"

Wally glanced at Jade, subconsciously reaching for his arm. The assassin looked down at the shuriken somewhat guiltily before extending one hand to him. "Follow me."

"No thanks," Wally hissed before grasping the weapon and yanking it out. Blood trickled out of the cut at an alarming rate, though it was not a large injury. It must have nicked a vein, Wally realized. He pressed his opposite thumb against the cut tightly a second before Cheshire spun him by the shoulder.

"You don't have a choice," she informed him. "Now follow. Me."

* * *

As it turned out, Conner was quite the master at shape-shifting. He morphed into a likeness of Red Tornado with ease, and smashed the robot operator with telekinesis and a rock exactly as planned.

Robin did, in fact, have Atlantean super-strength, they learned. He tore off the android's arms AND zapped the crap out of him, grinning the whole time.

Super-speed spinning didn't affect Artemis. Much. She was a little dizzy, but only a little.

Kaldur and exploding disks did not mix well. But he managed.

And, of course, Megan ripped up the robot pretty well herself.

All in all, mission successful.

And the next mission? Bane VS the cult of the Kobra?

Eh, not so much.

Artemis accidently turned off her stealth tech in the forest. Robin did the ninja thing and left Kaldur clueless. Conner's camouflage mode was terrible. They could all see him, and the mental link he set up kept coming back down. And Megan?

Stealth of an elephant.

CRASH!

And cue the elephant now, Robin thought irritably back at Mount Justice. She had ended up causing an entire explosion of Bane's factory, alerting Sportsmaster, who got away with way more Venom/Blockbuster drug than he had last time. They hadn't even gotten a "well done" from Batman this time.

In this universe, they all sucked at what they did.

And admittedly, the former Boy Wonder was starting to feel the pressure.

Because Robin was all skills, no powers, Kaldur had no idea what he was doing. He was a sitting duck, and Robin was both the water-sorcerer and the ninja.

"Robin?"

And cue Mr. Fortune Cookie now. That was all he was good for, anyway. Giving out advice.

"I understand that you are upset about the result of our last mission—"

"Gee, you think?" Robin snapped, spinning to face the former Atlantean. "Megan is a walking wrecking ball. Conner can't keep up a mental link to save his life, literally, and I know absolutely nothing about Atlantean water-sorcery. Artemis faceplants into the wall almost every time she runs, and you?" Robin scoffed. "Don't even get me started."

"I understand that it is a new experience for you to lead the Team entirely on your own, and that it is not to your benefit that we are under the conditions that we are."

"You don't understand anything!"

Kaldur frowned. "Robin, you are frustrated. This I understand. Though perhaps I am not the leader of this team in battle, I am still the leader morally. I do not have your skills as a hero without powers, and I readily accept that. I respect you for your ability to be a superhero despite this."

"Yeah, but you're not even trying to fill my place on the team! You're just standing there, offering advice in the heat of battle and throwing bombs like a dizzy Joker! It's hard to stay traught when your teammate is throwing exploding disks in your face!"

"I did not say that I can or could fill your place, Robin," Kaldur returned, remaining calm. "In fact, I cannot. And I realize the burden that has been placed upon you because of our circumstances. But I have learned that part of being a superhero, with powers or not, is that you must learn to solve every problem despite the circumstances."

"You never had to lead a team as messed up as this one! You just stand there! You're completely useless! Okay? There, I said it. I'm sick of leading this team already, and you're no help!"

"Is that how you feel? You feel that I am useless to the new dynamics of this team? Perhaps you are right. But do not take it out on Conner, Megan, and Artemis. They have much to offer this team as of yet, even with their abilities as unfamiliar to them as they are."

"You know what? Okay, I can deal with that. But you need to start learning at least some basic stuff. I mean, at least the bare minimum. You can't just run around like that, pretending you know what you're doing."

"That is what I came to you about."

"What?" Robin glanced up at the former Atlantean. Kaldur held up the bright yellow utility belt, smiling slightly.

"I came to ask you if you would teach me some of your skills, so that I will not be ENTIRELY useless on the battlefield," the Atlantean admitted. "Of course, computer technology and hacking is out of the question, but perhaps you can educate me further in the use of your utility belt."

"Oh." Robin brightened. "Well, sure! I can teach you the right way to throw the exploding disks so that they go where you want them to and not all over. And I guess bat-a-rangs are in order. And the disappearing into the smoke bomb thing? I can teach you the basics of that, if you want."

"I would be most grateful," Kaldur agreed.

"Cool." Robin hesitated. "Hey, uh, Kaldur?"

"Yes?"

"I—I'm sorry I called you useless. You're not. Useless, I mean."

"I understand. And I did not believe you for a second. You are just upset over recent developments."

"And that thing you said? About leading?"

"Yes?"

"I was wondering if maybe we could, y'know, co-lead or something. It might make it easier on both of us. That is, until we figure out what's up. Then you're leader again."

"I can live with that."

"So... we whelmed?"

Kaldur considered. "Yes, we are whelmed."

* * *

Cheshire led Wally over the rooftops to a small apartment in the city. When she unlocked the door, he realized that she must have lived there.

She shoved Wally toward the kitchen counter and motioned to it. "Sit."

Wally glared, but lifted himself up onto countertop. He watched as the assassin removed her mask and tossed it carelessly aside, reaching into the cabinet and pulling out a small black box. She opened it, retrieving a small brown bottle and a white cloth. She dumped some of the bottle's contents onto the rag, staining it an odd shade of yellow. Without warning, she spun around, grabbed his wrist, and slapped the rag onto the gash.

"Ow, hey! Cut it out! That hurts!"

"Oh? Did you prefer that I leave you bleeding in the warehouse?"

Wally didn't answer and gritted his teeth against the harsh sting of the antiseptic. Jade chuckled. "That's what I thought." She removed the rag and tossed it aside, pulling a smaller bottle out of the black box. "So what happened today? Neither of us are exactly flawless in our arts, but to put it gently, you really sucked today."

"Really. I hadn't noticed," Wally replied sarcastically, trying to ignore the fact that Cheshire, of all people, was the one cleaning his injury.

"Don't be sassy." Jade waggled one finger at him tauntingly. "After all, I'm not the one who tried to kill you today. Father did that. I'm the one patching you up."

"Yeah, but he didn't actually hurt me. You did."

"Touchy, touchy."

"Why are you doing this?" Wally asked abruptly. Jade nearly dropped the bottle of antiseptic in surprise, which, in turn, surprised Wally. He hadn't known that Cheshire could be surprised. He'd have to remember that.

"Listen," Jade said finally. "I know you're going to leave the family business. You're predictable like that. You've never wanted this, and to be honest, neither have I."

Wally had to think about that for a moment before replying. "If you've never wanted this, why didn't you just leave?"

Jade gave a bark of laughter. "Can't," she answered simply. "I'm in too deep. The only thing that could pull me back out is a hero husband or something, and no hero could love me for who I am." Jade tossed the rag aside and pulled a small roll of gauze from the box before continuing.

"Anyway, you're leaving. I know you are. I can tell. And I suppose that if I can't get out, I'm going to help you get out. It's as close as I'll get, and at this point, I'll take it."

"It's not too late to leave," Wally objected. "You can always leave."

"Maybe in your fantasy, it does." Jade straightened, leaving a single layer of white gauze around Wally's wrist. "But in reality, in the Shadows, you come in, you stay in. There's no leaving involved. In fact, the only leaving that anyone does is when they leave to find out if there's afterlife for killers like us. Anyway," she closed the box and pushed it to the end of the counter, and then hoisted herself up to sit next to Wally. "You're my brother, okay? Even if we are going to end up enemies, you're still family. At least, more family than Dad ever was. I don't actually want you dead. Well, aside from how much all siblings want each other dead."

Jade slid off the counter and onto the floor, and Wally copied her. "Now scat," Jade instructed. "You can lose the bandage by the day after tomorrow. And if Mom asks, you slipped in the street and cut yourself on some glass. I had nothing to do with it. And for goodness' sake, practice with your bow already. You'll be dead before you know it if you don't."

Wally nodded before walking toward the door. But then he stopped. "Hey, uh—Jade?"

Jade looked up at him.

"Thanks." He didn't say why.

"You're a sap," she informed. Wally preferred to interpret the statement to mean, "You're welcome".

He grinned.

* * *

**A/N Yay. Angst. Wally and Jade could've had a very interesting relationship as in-laws. Too bad...**

**Review, or the next wait will be longer.**


	14. Ya Got Schooled

**A/N I got a PM from Alexandria-likethecityinEgypt telling me exactly how long it had been since I last updated... I am profusely apologizing because I had this written and never actually posted it... sorry guys but it's here now!**

**BTW, we are up to not one hundred, not one hundred and one, but ONE HUNDRED AND THREE REVIEWS. I LOVE YOU GUYS SOOOOO MUCH! Give yourselves a big fat wet sloppy kiss and say it's from me because you are all AWESOME!**

**I switch around in POVs a lot in this chapter, but I think you'll like the effect. If you do, I might end up doing it again next couple chapters, too.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own. Who wants to start saving up with me?!**

* * *

Megan watched as Superman flew down to the highway, setting the school bus down beside him.

"I had that," she informed matter-of-factly.

"I didn't want to take the chance. Your landing could've collapsed the entire bridge."

"It wouldn't have been taking a chance. I'm strong enough!"

"We don't know the full extent of your powers yet. So yes, it would have been a chance."

Megan paused before hesitantly asking, "Since we don't know for sure, maybe you would... help me test them? Learn my limits, you know?"

Suddenly, the Man of Steel's hand flew up to his ear as a voice came into his comm. link. Megan discreetly tuned her super-hearing to listen in, and could hear Green Arrow frantically shouting out instructions.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down, GA." Superman's voice sounded deep and garbled with super-hearing, and Megan turned it off again so she could hear him normally. "Of course, I'll be right down," he promised, making Megan raise an eyebrow as if to ask "What about me?"

"I don't have anything more important to do." He gave the girl a pointed look, making her inhale sharply. Superman turned off the comm. and left without another word. The former Martian watched him leave with a sigh.

* * *

"I'm Black Canary, and I'm your trainer."

Megan, still upset over her run-in with Superman, just grunted.

Conner gave her an understanding smile, already realizing what had happened. "Hey," he whispered to her mentally. "It's okay, really. You get used to it."

"Easy for you to say," she snapped back. "You've got Uncle J'onn teaching you shape-shifting now. You have a mentor!"

Conner stared at his right hand, allowing a sixth finger to grow out of it before yanking it back. "We'll get back. Then you'll have your mentor again. Look," he added quickly, seeing that she only scoffed at him. "Really, it's not that bad, okay? I know you're not used to Superman ignoring you like this, but if it helps, I can give you some pointers. It's not the same, but..." He trailed off, glancing over to the former Martian to see her reaction.

"It's fine," she said softly. "I'd be grateful."

"And I'm really sorry about your uncle. But I figure I've got to learn how to do this, or else we're sunk."

"I understand, and you don't have to be sorry, really. It's not your fault or anyone else's. Sorry I snapped. It's just that, this morning, I—"

"Had a disagreement with Superman," Conner finished. "I kind of figured."

"Oh."

"Uh, if it would make you feel better, I'd like to maybe... take you somewhere... like... I don't know..."

"Like, out for dinner or something?"

"On a date," the former Kryptonian finished lamely. "If you don't mind, that is."

"I'd love to," Megan replied, grinning, just as the blonde bombshell heroine swept Artemis's legs out from under her.

"Nice block," Black Canary remarked, "But did anyone see what she did wrong?"

"Ooh!" Robin threw his hand into the air. "She got cocky and then got schooled!"

"Dikel!" Artemis hissed, throwing the Atlantean a deadly glare while Black Canary looked confused at his sudden absence of proper language. Meanwhile, Kaldur face-palmed.

This would be fun to explain.

* * *

EROOSH!

"Dang it!"

Wally lowered his bow and glared at his errant arrow (ha ha), the iron tip of which bounced off the concrete apartment roof he stood on. At least twenty feet away, a large bulls-eye painted onto a piece of upright cardboard taunted him.

"Don't worry, I'll get it yet," he promised the mocking target. "Just you wait!"

Yep, he was losing it.

He glanced down at his wrist, which was decorated by a brand-new pink scar from Cheshire's shuriken. He didn't spite her for it. After all, she expected him to dodge it, since the alternate-universe Wally was apparently skilled at that kind of stuff. But the new injury, which was still sore, prevented him from drawing back the bowstring properly.

Why did speedsters get cut all the crap again?

With a sigh, he retrieved the arrow and fit it back to the string. He lifted his right arm, gripping the bow in his hand, and pulling back the string with his left. He winced at the twinge in his wrist, but ignored it. Touching his cheekbone lightly with his thumb, Wally aimed...

EROOSH!

"What? Wait! I got it? I got it! Whoo!" The redhead began dancing around on the rooftop, waving the bow victoriously. The arrowhead pierced the target in the white ring, three rings away from the bulls-eye. But considering that he hadn't been hitting the target at all for the past three days, it was a success.

"Oh, yeah! Wait until Artemis hears that she's not the only archer on the team anymore! Ha ha! Wall-man for the win!"

Wally glanced down at his wrist again. Speed-healing would have been nice in this situation, but at the same time, it was nice to be able to slow down and live life at the same pace as the rest of the world.

Wally West was back on track.

* * *

"I hate monkeys!"

The irony of the situation would have made Kaldur'ahm laugh, if it was not so serious.

Megan was standing on top of a truck, covered with robotic monkeys and screaming.

"M'gann!" Kaldur called through the headset. "Remain calm! I will assist you momentarily!" That is, if he could remember which pocket on the utility belt held his grappling gun...?

"Don't bother!" Megan screeched back. She yanked an android off her back, grasped its limbs in both hands, and tore them from its body, tossing the shell aside. Then she began grabbing monkeys, throwing them away from her with all of her super-strength. Unfortunately, the monkeys would only deploy their jet packs and come flying back.

"Whose idea was this?! They're fired!"

"You cannot fire Batman from the League," Kaldur sighed, yanking out his grappling gun. "Finally..."

One of the monkeys fired lasers from its eyes, shooting Megan in the face with them. She yelped and fell back, rubbing them furiously. When she opened them again, she realized that her black T-shirt was draping off her chest in shreds.

"Eep!" Megan proceeded to ignore the monkeys and tie her shirt back together; letting out a string of curses Kaldur hadn't even known she knew.

"Please tell me that this does not happen often," he begged as he landed beside her on the truck, instantly attacking the androids while protecting Megan.

"Not often," she growled. "First time, but let's hope this is the last time, because next time, someone's going to be paying for it with teeth."

Well, someone was in a good mood today.

The monkey-bots used their laser-eyes (Megan looked jealous) to burn a hole in the roof of the truck. A few of them disappeared inside, returning seconds later with a steel briefcase in tow. Megan snarled and leapt after them, but they just shot her back with their laser eyes, and she crashed back to the truck below.

"Sparrow!" Artemis yelled through the headset. "We just lost our parts! Are you—?"

"We were also unsuccessful in detaining our half of Amazo," Kaldur admitted.

"Not yet!" Megan snapped back. "I can still go after it!"

"M'gann! No! Stay here!"

"If that robot gets put back together while we're still not used to our new powers, we're doomed. I still have time. All I need to do is catch up with the stupid monkeys and grab the case. They need all the parts for the robot to work."

"M'gann!"

"Catch up with me later!" Megan used a super-jump to launch herself off the moving truck and after the flying robo-monkeys.

Kaldur's communicator hissed static before Conner's voice cut in. "She went after it, didn't she?"

"Yes."

Artemis sighed. "And you people say I started being impulsive."

"Hello?" Robin pointed out. "Track her comm. link, remember?"

"Right." Kaldur opened the holographic computer on his wrist and opened a tracking program. "Hm... It says that she is beside me." He glanced down to see Megan's white communicator lying next to him. "Ah. She pulled a Superboy and dropped it on the ground."

"Seriously?" Conner quizzed. "You actually call it that? Pulling a Superboy?"

"Yes, we have come to refer to it as that, though now we may have to call it, 'pulling a Supergirl'."

"Kaldur," Robin interjected. "Remember what I told you about tracking tech?"

"...Yes."

"Track one of the monkey-robots. You'll need to use the cord in your gauntlet and hook it up to a USB slot in the monkey. If I remember correctly, the slot is located near the back of where the skull would be on a normal monkey."

Kaldur picked up one of the discarded robot bodies and pulled the cord out of the gauntlet, sticking the end into the USB as Robin instructed. "What next?"

"Bring up the holographic computer, and you'll see a little window pop up in the upper right-hand corner. Use the arrow keys on the holograph to select it. Are you with me so far?"

With slight ineptness, Kaldur selected the window. "I am still with you."

"There should be a list of options on what to do with the inserted data. Near the bottom of the list, there's an option to enter the wireless network. Pick that one. Okay?"

"...Oh my. There are many of these robots. Next?"

"The robots will be kind of all over, each one represented by a little blue dot. There should be two larger groups, though, maybe seven or eight at a time, and they should be converging at a certain point. That's our destination."

"I have it," Kaldur announced finally. "They are going to meet together on a train headed past Gotham. They should meet there in only a few moments."

"Got it." Robin whistled, and Kaldur raised an eyebrow when he heard an engine running.

"Your bike comes to you when you whistle?" Artemis deadpanned on the other end.

"Yours does, too. Try it."

Artemis whistled. "Oh. Cool!"

"Amazo?" Conner reminded.

"Yeah, yeah. Now come on, guys! M'gann's not going to be able to hold onto that case for long!"

* * *

Patrol in Gotham?

Awesome.

Patrol in Gotham without Robin with him?

Not quite as awesome.

Patrol in Gotham without Robin OR super-speed, and armed with a bow and arrows?

Admittedly, not asterous, but Wally was going stir-crazy!

Besides, he was pretty good with the thing by now! He could hit the blue ring, which was only one ring away from the yellow bulls-eye! Take that, Artemis!

Where was Artemis, anyway? Where was any of the Team? Were they looking for him at all?

Sure, they were!

They were just... taking a really long time.

Yeah.

Yeah, no. Something was up.

Oh yeah, like he hadn't known that before.

"Shut up, stupid brain!"

Like he said. Stir-crazy.

* * *

"Hey, wait a sec!" Artemis exclaimed. "Gotham Academy? Why here?"

"Last time, Amazo threw me through the wall of the gymnasium," Conner grunted.

"From the train?! Oh my gosh, you mean he just threw Megan through a brick wall from the train?! Come on! We have to help her!"

Kaldur paused near a trophy case. "Why is my photograph here, displaying me as a school mathlete?"

Robin blushed deeply. "Doesn't matter! Let's go!"

* * *

Wally stopped on a rooftop when he heard a strange noise.

Was that... fighting? It sounding like a robot's voice coming from inside this building, which was... Gotham Academy? Huh. Why did that seem like it was important?

"Access—Superman," said the robot's voice. "Access—Martian Manhunter. Access—Superman."

"Oh no." He leapt down onto the edge of a convenient hole in the wall, just in time to see Amazo grab a red and yellow blur. Without thinking, he drew an arrow, fit it, aimed...

And fired.

* * *

"Access—Superman."

"ARTEMIS!" Megan screamed.

Amazo's head turned slightly. "Access—Martian Manhunter," he said, just as an arrow flew through his torso, and Artemis dropped to the ground. Megan charged.  
"Access—Superman." Amazo threw out his fist and sent the former Martian rocketing back into the wall.

"Kaldur!" Robin shouted. "Now!"

With a flick of his wrist, Kaldur sent three exploding disks shooting toward the robot.

"Access—Martian Manhunter." The disks phased through him, and so did Megan's fist.

"Access—Superma—" Amazo froze as a hole suddenly appeared through his head, and the robot crashed to the ground in a heap.

* * *

Wally glared through the gap. He recognized his whole team—there was a Kryptonian, a Martian, a ninja, an Atlantean, and a speedster.

They replaced him?

With a girl. Hrmph.

Fine! If they weren't going to even try to find him, he wouldn't be around.

He leapt away into the darkness, like the ninja he was learning to be.

* * *

"Guys!" Artemis yelled. "Look at this!"

"What is that?" Kaldur called, intently examining the small stick in Artemis's hand.

"It's an arrow! MY arrow! Someone saved my butt from Amazo with MY arrow! Someone is going around, doing what I was doing! Being the Gotham vigilante, and everything! But who?"

They all exchanged a shocked look as it hit them.

"Wally?" Robin gasped.

"He was here!" Kaldur realized. "Is he still?"

Conner flew to the nearest gymnasium window and looked out. "I don't see him."

"That doesn't mean anything!" Artemis called up to the former Kryptonian. She took a head-start and ran up the wall, landing neatly on the edge of the hole Amazo had created when he knocked Megan through the wall. "WALLY!"

"He's not here, Artemis," Megan shouted up to her. "I'd be able to hear him if he was. He's long gone."

"But this proves that he's out there somewhere," Robin interjected. "That means that he's going to meet up with the rest of us soon, when he joins the Team as an archer. Right?"

"I do not know, Robin," Kaldur admitted. "So much in this world has changed that I do not believe we can accurately predict anything, nor should we attempt to. We will have to wait and see."

* * *

Three days later, Wally was on the roof of the apartment he and his kind-of-mother, Paula Crock, lived in. And as he had for the past three days, he fired arrows at targets. His arms burned, and new calluses from the rough string of the bow covered his hands and fingers. But as arrow after arrow sank into the yellow bulls-eye at the center with deadly accuracy, he grinned victoriously.

He was an archer now.

"Wallace?"

"Hey, Mom," he answered mechanically, without turning to see her. It still felt strange to call her that, because she wasn't his mom, and he knew it, but at the same time, he called his mother, Mum, so it wasn't the same thing as calling Paula his mother.

Sort of.

"There is someone here to see you," she informed. "Gentlemen?"

"Hi there, Wallace," greeted a cheerful, familiar voice. A very familiar voice.

Wally spun on his heels to see a man with a yellow goatee, wearing a domino mask under a green hood.

"Green Arrow?"

"You're quite the shot, aren't you?" The archer motioned to the target, which was speckled with holes and arrows, all of which pierced the center.

"Uh, yeah," Wally answered, nodding dumbly, because, really, why was Green Arrow HERE?!

Batman stepped out from behind the Emerald Archer. "Wallace Crock? We need to have a word with you."

"This is going to sound a little crazy, and random," Green Arrow admitted. "But we understand that you saved a League squadron consisting of a number of the League members' side—er, partners. And I was wondering if you'd like to, you know, get into that a little... more. Like, become a partner of mine. In fighting crime. You'd need a hero name, but I would be willing to mentor you."

No. Freaking. Way.

"I'd be glad to be your partner."

* * *

**A/N Ta-da... Review, please!**


	15. Wally Joins the Team!

**A/N I had soooo much fun writing this... And now, the long-awaited chapter of Wally Joins the Team!**

**There's a comment about a crazy Asian lady in here that is in no way meant to be racist... just sayin'.**

**Disclaimer: Do not own. Be grateful...**

* * *

"Are you sure you can't come with us?" Megan asked anxiously into the phone. "It'll be a lot of fun!"

"Sorry, M'gann," Artemis sighed on the other end. "First day of sophomore year at Wally's high school. Can't miss. I just hope I can keep up his science grades until he shows up. Really, though, guys, you go ahead!"

"Are you sure?" Megan asked. "I feel a little guilty for leaving you out."

"I'll be meeting you guys at the beach after school!" Artemis assured. "Now go have fun. I'll meet up with you, seriously!"

"School sucks," Conner observed.

"Lucky Robin, doesn't have to go to school anywhere except in Atlantis, where he gets to study combat." Megan gave the now-Atlantean a pointed look, and he shrugged in return, beaming.

"Hey, Kaldur here will be going to school for the first time ever pretty soon!" The former Boy Wonder pointed out. "Can't wait to see how well that goes. By the way, Kal, how good are you when it comes to mathematics?"

"Average. Why? Does this have to do with that photograph of myself being portrayed as a mathlete at Gotham Academy?"

"Uh..."

"Alright, Artemis," Megan interrupted quickly. "Have fun at school, okay? Be sure to wear your swimsuit, and I'll save you something to eat, since you're a Flash, now."

"You're a lifesaver, M'gann, literally. Whoop, there's the bell. See ya!"

"Bye, Artemis!" Robin called. "Well, then, let's hit the beach!"

* * *

"You don't have to pull so hard," Wally huffed.

"It's the only way to get it in place," Paula insisted. "Now hold still—"

"OW! You know, it's supposed to look kind of windblown, okay? I like it like that!"

"But if you don't pull it back, you'll never get the mask on!"

"Yes, I will! Okay? Now, if you let me just—OW! Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! Stop pulling! It hurts!"

Paula waved the hairbrush around in frustration. "Trust me, Wallace! I know hair. I have hair. I have way more hair than you do! I know how this kind of thing works."

"I didn't ask for help! I can do my own hair!"

"But you don't DO your own hair! You just slick it down with some gel and call it quits! Don't you ever BRUSH it? It's such a nice color, and you would have ladies fawning all over you if you would fix it nicely."

"Yeah—eighty-year-old ladies! Look, Mom, this is how it works." Wally took the hairbrush, ran it up the sides of his head, and yanked the dark green cowl over it. "And then you fluff it up on top, like so, so that it kind of sticks up. THEN you use the gel, like this, and just sort of spike it. See? Perfect."

"You look like a ragamuffin," Paula informed bluntly.

"Gee, thanks." Wally glanced at himself in the mirror. "This is such a hideous color green."

"I agree. It completely clashes with your hair. That's why I suggested that you brush it back so that it's not as noticeable."

"Mom, I like my hair, I don't like the costume." Subtly, Wally slipped one band farther down his wrist to conceal the fading scar from Cheshire's shuriken. Then he tucked the shirt down into the black belt, grateful that Green Arrow had at least had the sense not to give him some kind of half-shirt like the one he gave Artemis. He shuddered at the mere thought.

"I'm proud of you," Paula announced quickly.

Wally grinned to himself. "Thanks, Mom."

"I still think you should brush back your hair."

"I know, Mom."

A light knock sounded at the door. Green Arrow entered, grinning widely. "Hey, Wallace. The suit looks great!"

Either GA was colorblind, or he had a horrible sense of fashion, Wally decided. Probably both.

"You ready to meet the Team?"

"As I'll ever be," Wally muttered. He wasn't exactly keen on meeting his "replacement", but then again, he was Roy's replacement in this alternate universe. So, what goes around comes around, he supposed.

"You still need a hero name, though." Green Arrow scratched his goatee. "I've got the perfect one!"

Wally and Paula exchanged a glance. Wally sighed. "Let's hear it."

* * *

Wally's school SUCKED.

Undoubtedly, absolutely, positively, indubitably, SUCKED.

And that was why Artemis was so excited to get to the beach outside of Mount Justice with the rest of the Team and just relax after a long day.

It had nothing to do with the fact that she was starving after the crappy cafeteria food.

No! It had nothing to do with that!

Mostly.

A little.

It did, however, take all of her self-control not to use her new-found super-speed to dash up the stairs of the West household, put on her swimsuit, grab her beach bag, and zip to the nearest zeta-tube. She entered Mount Justice in a swirl of white light and the familiar dizzy sensation that resulted from beaming around her particles like a lost episode of Star Trek.

"Hey, guys!" she called. "Anyone home? It's me, Artemis! I'm he—"

And cue the entire Team in uniform, Batman, Red Tornado, and Green Arrow standing there, staring at her in nothing but her bathing suit and a jacket, yelling her head off.

"—Here," she finished. "Hi."

Green Arrow stepped to the side, revealing a redheaded figure dressed in a costume VERY similar to her Artemis costume, bow in his hand and quiver on his back, smirking at her.

"Artemis, huh?" asked Wally. "Well, I love the uniform. And what exactly are your powers?"

Artemis blinked.

"The name's Wally Crock," Wally introduced, still smirking like an imbecile.

"Girl Flash," Artemis croaked. "You're who now?"

"She's my new protegee."

"What happened to your old one?" Artemis managed to ask, remembering her role as the Team speedster.

As if on cue, the zeta-tube announced the arrival of Speedy.

"Well, for starters, he doesn't go by SPEEDY anymore."

* * *

Roy had done his research before coming to the cave that day, and knew exactly what had changed in this alternate reality. Somehow, the entire Team had swapped powers, leaving them with Conner as a Martian, M'gann as a Kryptonian, Kaldur as a Bat-ninja, Robin as an Atlantean, Artemis as a Flash, and now, Wally as an archer.

So he should have known exactly what to expect when he walked through the zeta-tube. And he KNEW what to expect.

But it was still a little unnerving. Seeing the Team in their switched-up costumes, with different physiques to match their powers, still shocked him.

It was like someone hit the shuffle button on the déjà vu machine.

Robin had gills, webbed fingers and toes, and went barefoot. Kaldur had the body of any normal human being. Artemis had lost her archer's arms and gained runner's legs, whereas Wally lost his runner's legs and gained archer's arms. Megan looked thicker and broader in build, and Conner, for the sake of all things holy, was GREEN.

It set off fireworks in the archer's head.

"Call me Red Arrow."

Wally and Robin both grinned widely at their so-called "big brother" before wiping away the grins, settling for smirks instead.

GA looked surprised, just like last time. "Roy... you look—"

"Replaceable," Roy snapped.

Did GA look that hurt last time he said that? He didn't think so.

"It's not like that. You told me you were going solo!"

"So why waste time finding a sub? Can he even use that bow?"

For a split second, inexpressible hurt flashed over Wally's face. But as fast as it was there, it was gone as he spat back, "Yes, HE can!" The surprised glance that Artemis shot the redhead in reply didn't go unnoticed. Roy felt guilty, but he had to stay in character. He could explain later.

Hopefully.

"Who are you?" Artemis snapped.

"I'm his nephew," Wally answered.

"Another nephew," Kaldur remarked dryly, SO PERFECTLY IN CHARACTER as Sparrow that Artemis was jealous. Did he know Wally was coming today or what?!

"You didn't come here for an argument," Batman observed.

Roy glanced at the Dark Knight, and then crossed the room and typed into the computer. "This is Doctor Serling Roquette. Electronics expert. Abducted by the League of Shadows two months ago."

"You want us to rescue her?" Megan asked. Her voice was completely deadpan.

"I already rescued her."

"Where is she now?" GA asked quickly.

"She's safe. For now. But before I could get to her, the Shadows forced her to create a weapon. It's called the Fog. It's a cloud of micro-robots that can penetrate any substance. Concrete, steel, flesh, bone."

Robin rolled his eyes and nudged Kaldur with his elbow. No one else seemed to notice.

"But its true purpose isn't mere destruction," Roy continued quickly. "It's theft. The Fog steals information from computers, giving it to the Shadows. With unlimited information, they're unstoppable."

Wally counted off on his fingers. "Perfect for extortion, manipulation, power broking... Yeah. Sounds like the Shadows to me."

Artemis looked surprised. "And what do you know about the Shadows?" she sneered.

Wally didn't face her, but smirked. "Who are you again?" he asked tauntingly.

"Told you. Girl Flash."

"Right. Flash Girl."

"You and me," Green Arrow cut in before Artemis could object. "Let's go together and take it down."

"Why don't you take your new SIDEKICK?"

"I'M RIGHT HERE, PEOPLE!"

"We have no quota on archers," Robin asserted. "There is always a place for you on this team."

Artemis gave a half shrug before directing a glare to Wally. "And if we did, you know who we'd pick."

Why was Artemis acting as if she liked him? Were they pretending to be each other, as well, or didn't they remember their old lives?

"Whatever, Baywatch," Wally scoffed, nodding toward Artemis's bathing suit. "I'm here to stay."

...Yeah. Shuffle button on the déjà vu machine.

"I know you don't like the idea of giving the mission to him," Green Arrow sighed. "But you brought this to the Team, which means it's his mission, too."

"Of course. Just talk about me like I'm not even here. Sound good? Good."

Everyone ignored him.

"Then I'm leaving," Roy snarled. "I refuse to be a part of this Junior Justice League."

The zeta-tube lady announced the departure of Speedy. Roy sighed to himself before vocally reprogramming it. "That's RED ARROW. B-0-6. Update."

* * *

With a sweep of his cape, Batman turned back the group of teens. "Prepare for the mission," he instructed. "Take the bio-ship. Report when you reach your destination." He glanced at Red Tornado and Green Arrow, silently instructing them to follow him. They did, but not before Green Arrow leaned over and whispered in Wally's ear, "And for gosh's sake, at least TRY to be polite."

As soon as the mentors were out of hearing range, Wally turned back to the Team with a glare. "Alright, will someone tell me what in the name of Einstein is going on here? I thought I had this all straightened out; turns out, I don't know the half of it. I'm Green Arrow's sidekick, Green Arrow's sidekick is the Flash's sidekick, my Martian and Kryptonian friends somehow switched SPECIES, and my ninja best friend has been replaced by my not-ninja leader-friend. Meanwhile, I save Artemis's butt against Amazo, I had to wear a green super-suit that I completely despise, by the way, and then I realize that I HAVEN'T been replaced by another Flash, but I HAVE switched lives with my arch-enemy. Explain, please."

Then he turned to Artemis and gave her a look. "Oh, and I met your family. The two of us are going to have a talk, okay? Okay."

"WALLY!" Robin screamed, launching himself at the former speedster. Wally yelped as his best friend tackled him, sitting on his chest. "Missed you," Robin said simply, grinning.

"I'm sure." Wally shoved him off and stood up again. "Seriously, though, does the costume make me look fat?"

Kaldur shook himself out of his wide-eyed trance to laugh. "No, it is actually not bad on you, my friend. As for your many questions, we do not know."

"Oh, so we've all been on the same page for a while now? We have an entire written thesis, and the answer is 'we don't know'?"

"Pretty much," Robin informed, flipping onto Wally's shoulders and resting his elbows in the red hair. The now-archer didn't budge, at which Robin looked a little surprised.

"Yay. So not only am I insane, my entire team is insane as well."

"At least we're insane together," Conner replied with a shrug. "Green's good on you, by the way."

"Thanks. Manhunter costume isn't bad on you, either. Kaldur, though?" Wally raised an eyebrow at the costume. "Different story. Has everyone got a cool new name?"

"Robin got an Atlantean name."

"Artemis! Don't—"

"Dikel'ahm."

"Ugh."

"I am called Sparrow, now," Kaldur supplied.

"Supergirl." Megan smiled brightly, holding out her black Super-S T-shirt.

"Aqualad. And, apparently, Dikel'ahm. Which is stupid."

"Young Martian, or, ironically, C'nner M'orzz. Yeah. My thoughts exactly."

"And I'm Girl Flash. I regret to say, your uncle hasn't become much more original between universes. And also, neither have you. Now I'm Baywatch? Really?"

"GA wanted to call me Wallace for a superhero name."

"Pft."

"Hey, it's not funny. I'm pretty sure my life changed the most drastically over the past month out of all of us. I have no superpowers, there's a crazy Asian lady breathing down my neck who says she's my mom, family training sessions—again, Artemis, we're going to have a talk about that later—Bat-cave break-in, I suddenly have a SISTER—big surprise there—and to top it off, GA's randomly like, 'hey, will you be my sidekick?'"

Wally held up one finger. "And my new hero name. Ha ha. Blue Arrow. He insisted on Blue Arrow. I said no. Then he was like, Fletch. I think not. Finally, he says Apollo. I don't even know who that is, but oh no, that's my new name for sure. So, la dee da, I'm Apollo now. Okay? Everyone get it? Full recap of my crappy life right now."

"I don't remember you being this sarcastic," Megan replied bluntly.

Wally sighed. "Sorry. Just, right now, I have no idea what's going on, nor have I known for the past month." Then he directed a glare at Artemis. "Don't forget, you, me, and some targets in the training room after this mission. Like I said, we seriously need to have a talk."

"Okay, okay!" Artemis rolled her eyes. "Seriously, though, how's my mom?"

"Still kicking. Well, I take that back. She's fine. Definitely nosy."

"Sounds like Mom."

"And my family?"

"You mom was worried about me at first, and your dad was, too. Once I figured out how to live a Flash's life, though, I apparently started acting more natural, and they were okay. I actually first woke up in your Uncle Barry's house. What's up with that?"

"I crash at his house all the time after a tough patrol. It's normal. Am I to assume you've done it since then?"

Artemis shrugged. "Once or twice," she admitted ruefully.

"The bedroom is nice."

"If you get past the sheer ugliness, yeah. It's okay."

"Right. So..." Wally glanced around, drawing out the word. "How's everyone doing with the whole, power swap thing?"

Robin shrugged. "Okay. You missed it. Me and Kaldur had a big fight over who was leader, and the fact that I had to be the ninja and the water sorcerer, and stuff, and that he was having trouble learning the ninja stuff. Anyway, we're co-leading right now. Which reminds me, why are none of your following my leadership example of glomping Wally?"

"WHAT?!"

"WALLY!" Megan yelled, throwing herself at Wally and hug-tackling him. "We missed you!"

"Ack! M'gann, super-strength hugs aren't good!"

Artemis face-palmed. "Only Wally would get super-strength hugged by a Martian."

"I heard that!"

"I'm glad!"

"Perhaps we should prepare for the mission?" Kaldur suggested lightly. "We would not wish for the mentors to become suspicious."

"Ooh, we wouldn't want that," Wally muttered. "Serling Roquette? Isn't that that lady who was all like, 'rah, rah, rah, I couldn't get the Justice League'?"

"Yes."

"Yippee. Oh, and random question. Artemis, can you still shoot?"

The blonde speedster shrugged. "I don't know. Haven't tried."

"WHOO! I'm the archer! Oh yeah, take that, Artemis!"

"Yeah, but I'm the speedster."

"...Dang it... What were we talking about?"

"The mission."

"Oh yeah.

"Who's ready to catch the Cheshire cat?" Robin joked.

Wally blanched. "Let me get back to you on that subject."

* * *

**A/N And that's that!  
**

**As always, reviews make me update.**


	16. The Name Game

**A/N And here we go! I got an overwhelming response last chapter—fifteen reviews for one single chapter! Gosh, I love you guys so much... PrettyKittyLuvsU asked me a very important question to this story, and I am mentally face-palming because I didn't explain it sooner.**  
**Basically, the Team is living out the past. So they SHOULD know what to expect, and be able to prevent the situation before it happens. THIS STORY IS NOT LIKE THAT.**

**The Team is trying to act like each other to avoid suspicion, but there are sometimes going to be slip-ups when someone forgets what happened when, and the stress that they're already under is making them forget some of what already happened.**

**In addition, the more they react beforehand, the more the situation will change. They may know what will happen at first, but if they keep pre-reacting, it will change. If they use a method to fight a person that they didn't use before, whether they do or do not capture the person will change, whether they caught him in the past or not. **

**So stuff changes; that's my explanation; please enjoy the chapter.**

**Also, my computer is an idiot. I rarely have internet connection, and so I'm not doing well in the answering-review department. Sorry.**

**Disclaimer: Hey, look, Pluto's not a planet. We all knew that; we all know who DOESN'T own Young Justice. *points to self***

* * *

"Young Martian, link us up. We cannot risk the Shadows intercepting our comm.'s," Robin instructed.

"Link established," Conner thought back, scanning the horizon.

"Wow." Wally rubbed his temple. "This is way different than I remember."

"M'gann isn't the one linking us," Artemis explained mentally from across the room. "It's a new experience."

"It's... WEIRD."

"And distracting," Serling Roquette hissed. "It's hard enough trying to complete this program on a kiddie computer with less RAM than a wristwatch; now I have to hear teen think in my skull?!"

Wally pursed his lips and stared at the ceiling as Artemis waved her granola bar at the doctor. "You always complain when people try to help you?"

"Pot, kettle," Wally joked. "Have you met?"

Artemis sighed. "Don't get into this, Wa—I mean, Apollo. We want RA on the Team as badly as you do."

"Fate of the world at stake, here?"

"Right." Wally sighed. "I'm going to go outside and watch the perimeter with Young Martian, okay?"

"Sounds good," Robin answered from his place beside the doctor. "I mean, ah, that would be wise," he corrected himself, slipping back into his Atlantean persona.

"Before I forget, that was your arrow that saved GF's... butt, from Amazo, right?"

Wally rolled his eyes at Kaldur's attempt at a normal American accent. "Yup. Not very grateful, is she?"

"No."

"Hello, boys. You're having this conversation through the mental link." Artemis grinned. "I can hear every word."

"Augh!"

"I couldn't get the Justice League!"

"Can you track the Fog?" Robin asked mentally.

"Of course I can track it! But I'd have to go online. I may as well set up a sign with 'ASSASSINATE ME' written in neon."

Robin stared at his bare feet for a moment before glancing back up at Dr. Roquette. "We will protect you," he promised, a determined gleam appearing in his eyes.

Serling Roquette looked at the five foot tall Atlantean dubiously for a moment. Of course, Robin thought, my height isn't helping my case any here.  
"Tracking the fog now."

"Uh, Philadelphia?" Artemis asked, peering over Robin's shoulder. "What's in Philadelphia?"

"Info," he answered simply. "I mean, information that is of use to the Shadows."

Outside the school building, Wally snickered. "I wish I could talk as formally as you do, Aqualad," he laughed.

"Shut up, KF. I mean, Apollo."

Wally just laughed again.

Megan landed on the ground beside him. "Really, Apollo. We should be more careful. This link is important, and we should try to keep it clear of unnecessary conversation."

"Thank you, Supergirl," Roquette hissed.

"No problem."

Conner suddenly pointed to the left. "Did you guys see that?" he asked abruptly.

"See what?"

"A shadow. There's someone here."

Wally's eyes narrowed. "Cheshire. Girl Flash, she's headed your way!"

Artemis started and glanced up; a gray form appeared at the end of the hallway. "On it!" she answered, dashing down the corridor just in time to see the shadow disappear again behind another corner.

"Watch out for the—"

"OW!"

"—Marbles," Wally finished a second too late. "GF? You okay? GF? Girl Flash?"

"She's not responding," Conner blurted. "Something happened."

"That's it." Wally unfolded his bow and drew an arrow. "Martian, you're with me. Come on!" The two burst through the door, Wally running and Conner flying behind him. "Girl Flash is in the swimming pool. Aqualad, Sparrow, the assassin is headed your way!"

"Thanks for the warning," Robin grumbled just in time to jump in front of Doctor Roquette and block a shuriken. Then he drew a water-bearer; this just got real.

Cheshire neatly somersaulted into the doorway, grinning both on her mask and behind it. "That had to hurt," she purred, referring to the shuriken in Robin's forearm.

"My skin is too thick for that," Robin retorted.

"True. But my shuriken are quite poisoned."

"I believe we knew that," Kaldur added, drawing a bat-a-rang. "But jellyfish toxins will not harm Aqualad."

"Bam!" Robin yelled, grinning manically while forming a sword with his water-bearer. "I mean, uh—"

"Just let me at my target and I'll leave," Cheshire reasoned, pulling out a sai. With a flick of her hand, she threw it at Dr. Roquette. Robin's bat ninja skills stayed true, however, as he formed a whip and knocked the sai from its path, embedding it into the wall next to the Doctor's head.

"Whoops," Robin taunted. "You missed."

"Almost didn't." Cheshire swiped the sai at him; he blocked it with the sword. "Poison slowing you down?"

"Told you. Largely immune to jellyfish toxins. Happens when you're from Atlantis."

"Largely immune," Cheshire added. "Not entirely." With a kick to his chest, the assassin sent him flying backwards, only to be met by Kaldur as the new Boy Wonder held up a bat-a-rang.

"Do not come closer," he warned.

The door flew open; Megan appeared with both hands raised in dangerous fists.

"Well, this is getting interesting," Cheshire remarked. Artemis shot out from behind Megan, and Conner joined her. "Perhaps too interesting. We'll meet again, Doctor," the assassin promised before throwing down a smoke pellet. Artemis made to tackle her, but missed as Cheshire vanished into the fog.

"She's getting away! You're letting her get away!" Serling Roquette cried.

"We promised we'd protect you, and that's what we're going to do!" Robin fired back at her, forgetting his alternate persona entirely. "Trust us on this."

"Hold on!" Wally called through the mind link. "I've got a visual! I'll track her!"

"Apollo, don't!" Artemis warned. "You don't stand a chance against her alone. We can barely take her down six on one. Don't risk it!"

Wally ignored her, firing a sleeping gas arrow at Cheshire. She merely glared at him. "Do you really think that will stop me?" she hissed. "Though, I must admit, it's good to know you've been practicing, little brother."

"Jade, you don't have to do this," Wally tried to reason. "We can help you get out. I can help you get out. Look! I'm a hero, now. I can help."

"Don't call me Jade," Cheshire snarled before planting a spinning back-kick against his jaw. "I'm the Cheshire cat, and in our family, it's every kid for themselves. I don't need your help, and I don't want it." Cheshire grabbed his left wrist, still bearing the mark of her shuriken, making him wince despite himself. Jade didn't flinch, merely shoving him away.

"And if you want my advice, stay out of the way of the Shadows." She threw down a second smoke pellet and vanished.

"Is everyone safe?" Robin asked suddenly through the link. Everyone voiced his or her agreement except Wally. He stared at the spot where Cheshire had been standing seconds before.

"Apollo?"

"I'm fine."

"We need to relocate the doctor," Kaldur informed. "Come on."

* * *

After the mission, Wally appeared at Artemis's side and waved her away from the rest of the Team. Curious, the blonde speedster followed him to the training room. Wordlessly, he pointed to a treadmill and held up a stopwatch. Artemis got on and began walking slowly. Wally gave her a look, and she began to speed up, but still held back from her full speed.

"It's built to withstand super-speed," Wally informed, sounding annoyed. "Go ahead and give it what you've got."

Artemis shrugged. "If you say so," she replied, speeding up even more. It was only a few moments before she reached her top speed, and her legs were only a blur of yellow and red on the black treadmill.

"Stop."

Artemis gave Wally a strange look before slowing and hopping off. Wally held up the stopwatch.

"You can run a mile a second," he observed. "Nice."

"Is that as fast as Flash?"

"Not even close. It's not as fast as I usually am, either, but considering the fact that you've only been a real Flash for about a month, it's good. I was slower than that in my first month, too."

"You were twelve."

"And a half."

"Same difference." Artemis grabbed a towel and threw it around her neck, and then motioned to Wally's bow and arrow. "Your turn. You get to show me your shooting skills."

"If you insist," Wally replied with a smirk, pulling his bow and an arrow from his back smoothly. He fired at a target on the far wall; it embedded dead-center.

"So," he began. "I'm not going to mess around. I met your dad and your sister."

Artemis froze as Wally fired another arrow. "Oh."

"Yeah."

"Uh... did they... um..."

"Have a training session? Yes."

"Oh," she repeated. "They're a little ruthless, y'know... are you okay?"

"Fine. Still a little in shock, but fine. But it got me thinking. When exactly were you planning on telling us that your father and sister are assassins?"

"Hopefully never."

"Ah." He fired another arrow, and again, it was a perfect bulls-eye. "Why?"

"Where did you learn to shoot like that?"

"The internet has everything. Don't change the subject."

"I was... scared."

"Scared," Wally repeated, deadpan. "No, you? Impossible."

"Think what you like, Baywatch. No one is immune to fear."

"Right." The redhead turned to face her, his expression quizzical. "Why?" he repeated.

"Why what?"

"Why were you scared?"

"Uh, it's kind of obvious, I'd think."

Wally shrugged. "Pretend it isn't. Why were you scared?"

"I was scared of what you guys, my teammates, would think of me if you found out my lineage. You know, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree? How would you know I wasn't an assassin, too?"

Wally shrugged again, walked over to the targets, and yanked out one of the arrows, turning and waving it at her. "Well for one, you're GA's partner, and GA wouldn't take in someone who he thought would try to kill us."

"You don't know that."

"You would never, ever, ever guess, but Ollie's a good judge of character." Then he froze. "Wait, you know his secret identity, right?"

"Oliver Queen? Yeah, it took him a while to tell me, but I know."

"Oh. Good. For a second, there, I thought I was screwed."

"Yeah."

A long pause followed before Wally sighed.

"I'm not going to tell you that you should have told us, because I know why you didn't. But... still. Did you really think we were that shallow? That we would... you know, judge you like that? If there's anything we learn in the hero business, it's that nothing is what it seems to be."

"But, still. An assassin? You wouldn't have had any suspicions about that?"

Wally shrugged again. "I don't know. Maybe. At first, I would have, but now, no. Now I know who you are, what you act like. And plus, I kind of had this... talk, I guess, with Chesh—I mean, Jade. It definitely cleared a few things up."

"Like?"

"Why you left the family business."

"Yeah?"

"Sure."

Artemis nodded as Wally turned away and tugged the remaining arrows from the target. He slipped them into the quiver on his back, and then removed the quiver and handed it to her. "Your turn."

"Me?" Artemis lifted her eyebrow. "But I'm a speedster now. I don't shoot anymore."

"Give it a try."

Artemis took the proffered bow and quiver, slinging the latter onto her back in a practiced manner. The bow she held up, weighing it in her hand. The she drew an arrow, fit it, and tried to draw back the string.

Key word? "Tried".

"I can't do it."

"Wow. How the tables have turned."

"Shut up." With a scowl, the blonde handed the bow and quiver back to Wally, who grinned and fired yet another arrow to show off.

"Give me some tips?" he asked.

"You need to readjust the fletching," Artemis observed. "Feather fletching tends to ruffle, and it causes the arrow to fly off course."

Wally removed the arrow from the string and examined it. "And how would you suggest I do that?"

"Hold it over a boiling pot of water. The steam will help it to slide back into place. Fix anything else with your fingers, and then just let them air-dry."

"Thanks." Wally slipped the arrow away and pushed off his green cowl, ruffling his hair back into its windswept place with a sigh of relief. "So, maybe now we can get along a little better? You know, now that you understand why I'm so impatient and I understand why you're so grumpy?"

Artemis shrugged. "We'll have to see what happens. Also, thanks for giving me mouth-to-mouth back there."

Wally blushed. "That wasn't me. That was Conner."

"Since when does Conner have red hair?"

"Hey, he can shape-shift, remember?"

Artemis laughed. "You're the world's worst liar, West. We never taught him how to perform CPR because he'd smash in someone's chest. So unless you taught him as a Martian, you made out with me tonight."

She started to leave, but then turned back to the redhead, looking a little nervous. "Are you going to tell the others? About my dad and sister, I mean?"

Wally shook his head. "No. That's your business, not mine. You can tell them when you're ready, but please, make it soon."

Artemis grinned sheepishly before dashing forward and hugging Wally. "Thanks, Baywatch."

Wally's redhead complexion stayed true as his face flushed scarlet, and he stuttered a few seconds before Artemis pulled back her head and shoved her finger against his lips.

"Shut up."

"Oh. Uh, okay." The archer paused for a few seconds before Wally hugged her back. "And you're the Baywatch now."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the doorway, Robin elbowed Kaldur gently. "See? Told you. They stopped fighting. I knew they wouldn't start again once he showed up. You, my friend, owe me twenty dollars."

"Robin, you bet that Wally would make the first move toward their friendship. It would appear to me that Artemis is the one who first hugged him; therefore I, in fact, have won the bet."

"No, I bet that the speedster would make the first move. Artemis is the speedster; therefore, I, in fact, have won the bet."

Kaldur scowled and produced a bill from ABSOLUTELY NOWHERE, and handed it to Robin, who tucked it away, cackling softly. "You're just mad because I was prepared for something like this and worded the bet the way I did."

"How could you have possibly known that something like this would happen?"

"I didn't, actually, but I'm still a Bat. I am prepared for anything."

"Perhaps so. But, just as you bet that the speedster would make the first move, I bet that Artemis would make the first move. Not that archer would, but that Artemis would. Therefore, I have won the bet. You owe me twenty dollars."

Robin sighed at him for a second before wordlessly handing back the bill, which Kaldur pocketed with a smirk. "You see? I, also, was prepared. Why? Because I am now a Bat."

"...Shut up."

* * *

**A/N Battle of the Bat-ninjas... This chapter felt like crap, but I just HAD to have that "talk" Wally wouldn't shut up about... IDK. Review, please.**

**And before I forget, I'm going to post the next chapter of Behind Their Masks in a couple of minutes here, so keep an eye out for it.**


	17. Find A Ginger, Win A Prize

**A/N And here we go! Again, can't reply to reviews because my Internet is crap... I literally update when I can at this point. My sincerest apologies.  
**

**Disclaimer: *picks up phone* Hello? You want to sell me YJ for a dollar? Yes, I'll take it! *end daydream* If only...**

* * *

"Initiate combat training."

Conner, Artemis, and Wally watched, mesmerized, as Megan and Robin began sparring. Robin threw his foot toward Megan's face, but the former Martian ducked and tackled him. They both went flying backwards, Robin letting out a loud, "Hey!"

"Who do you think will win?" Wally quizzed of Artemis.

The blond speedster shrugged. "Hard to say."

"I won when I did this with Kaldur," Conner pointed out. "I'd been training with BC."

"Yeah, but Robin's got years of training with Bats," Wally countered. "Even if he's not Robin, he's still got the skills."

Suddenly, Megan reached behind Robin's ankle with her leg, hooked it with her foot, and pulled backward, throwing him into the air. He flipped over her, landing in a crouch and scowling.

"Black Canary taught me that," she informed with a smile.

"Yeah, well—" Robin grabbed Megan's shoulders, and flipped over her, planting his feet into her back and leaping off, simultaneously knocking her to the floor. "BATMAN taught ME that."

"What do you mean by that?" Red Tornado's voice asked suddenly.

Artemis jumped at the sudden voice. "What is it with everyone and the ninja thing?" she sighed.

"Why would the Batman teach you anything?"

Wally shrugged. "Do you have a mission for us?" he asked Red Tornado.

"Mission assignments are the Batman's responsibility."

Artemis huffed. "Yeah, well, the Batman's with the Robin, doing the Dynamic Duo thing in Gotham, but you're headed somewhere, right?"

"If we can be of help," Robin added quickly, being sure to stay in his Atlantean persona.

But, if RT could look surprised, he probably would at that moment. "The Batman is not with anyone named Robin," he intoned. "He is with Sparrow."

"What you said," Artemis sighed. Really, she felt kind of sorry for Kaldur that he had to do a stake-out with the Dark Knight. But Robin had assured her that while her former Atlantean friend's abilities were not up to par with the original Boy Wonder's, they were satisfactory.

So she wasn't scared for his life or anything.

But still. Poor Kaldur.

"This is Kent Nelson, a friend. He is 106 years old."

"He doesn't look THAT old," Robin remarked.

Red Tornado turned to him slowly, obviously wondering at the lack of proper grammar and the presence of contractions. Catching his stoic gaze, Robin just shrugged.

"Well? You must admit that it is true."

"Kent Nelson is the former Doctor Fate," RT continued slowly. "He was a charter member of the Justice Society, predecessor to the Justice League."

"Doctor Fake," Wally sang softly. Artemis rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the gut.

"Like the priests and priestesses on Mars!" Megan exclaimed brightly.

Red Tornado's confused gaze instead turned to her.

Conner noticed. "How do you know anything about Mars?" he asked in a pointed tone.

"You told me, remember?" Megan answered without skipping a beat.

"Oh. Oh, yeah. I forgot."

RT was still confused, if his silence was anything to go by, but he continued. "Kent went missing several days ago. He may be on one of his walkabouts, or there may be something wrong."

"You want us to go check up on him or something?" Robin quizzed.

Honestly, if Wally could face-palm and still avoid suspicion, he would. RT looked ready to smash Robin into the nearest wall and ask where the real Aqualad was.

"I would be grateful," Red Tornado said after a stiflingly long pause. He took out a key. "Here, take this. It is the key to the Tower of Fate." He nearly handed it to Robin, but seemed to change his mind at the last minute and gave it to Wally, who just wrinkled his nose disgustedly.

Ah, yes. FUN.

Wally sighed.

* * *

"Just like last time," Artemis confirmed, skidding to a stop on the grass. "This is no ordinary camo. Hey, Wally?"

The redhead looked up from the key. "Whassup?"

"What do you think? Adaptive micro-electronics combined with phase-shifting?" Artemis mocked.

"...Shut up." Wally rolled his eyes and walked toward the empty space. "Okay, now what did Kaldur do? He just stuck it here..." Wally began repeatedly jamming the key into the empty space, earning a confused look from Robin.

"I think I'm just sticking it into the wall," the former speedster announced finally, waving the key.

"You don't say," Conner deadpanned. His voice sounded strained with his head thrown back to stare exasperatedly at the sky.

"Yeah." Wally stuck the key into the empty space again before shrugging. "Well, looks like the magic key isn't going to get us into the magic tower to meet the magic man and get rid of the magic boy so we can get to the magic helmet."

"You're mocking magic, aren't you?" Robin asked finally.

"Yes. Yes, I am."

"Asterous. So, that means that what I'm about to do is completely and totally justified."

"Huh?"

Robin tackled the redhead to the ground, earning a startled yelp before yanking the key to the Tower from his hand. "A TEST OF FATE!" he screamed, and then shoved the key into the empty space and turning it.

Instantly, the Tower of Fate appeared; a large, medieval stone building in the previously empty space. Robin pursed his lips thoughtfully, and then smirked.

"Must be an Atlantean thing."

Wally just shoved him aside with a huff. "Come on, Atlantean with an Atlantean name."

Robin scowled at him before rolling his eyes and following, but started suddenly when the holographic form of Kent Nelson appeared out of thin air.

"Yikes!"

"What is your business in the Tower of Fate?" asked the holograph.

"Hold on," Megan warned.

"We're here to see Doctor Fake," Wally sighed. "Know where we could find him?"

Kent Nelson scowled before Wally winced suddenly. "Wrong answer, huh?" he asked sheepishly.

"Wrong answer," Artemis confirmed, milliseconds before the floor opened, and they all fell through.

Wally grabbed Robin around the waist and yanked out a grappling arrow at the same time Conner dashed forward and wrapped Artemis's arm around his neck. Megan grabbed the side of the stone wall, sliding down by her fingertips. Her feet dipped into the lava below, and she let out a yelp before yanking them back.

"Aw," she moaned. "I really liked those boots."

"Forget about the boots!" Wally shouted. "We've got a dying Atlantean and Martian here!"

"Oh." Megan face-palmed with one hand. "I was wondering why the heat wasn't affecting me."

"And I was wondering why it was so much hotter in here than it should be," Robin muttered, wiping sweat from his forehead.

"Same," Conner agreed. Artemis looked sympathetic.

Megan shouted, "Red Tornado sent us to find Kent Nelson and make sure he was okay!"

The floor closed, and one by one, the teens dropped down onto the steel floor. "Hey!" Robin cried.

"What?"

"This floor should be burning off our feet, but feel it!" Robin ran his webbed fingers over the surface of the floor, one eyebrow quirked. "It's cool." Then he wrapped his fingers around a handle and opened the trap-door, revealing snowy tundra beyond. "Well, considering that I just nearly died from fiery lava, I really want to go there."

"And freeze to death instead?" Conner muttered. "Okay, I'm in." He dropped through the doorway, and his teammate quickly followed. "Oh. It's actually kind of nice in here."

Artemis shrugged. "I'm not as cold as I should be in these circumstances, though," she noted.

"Speedster's body temperature is higher than the average human's," Wally grunted. "And before any of you ask, we're in a pocket dimension. It's not magic."

Artemis turned to Robin with a sigh. "See? He's stubborn."

Robin, however, ignored her. "Uh..."

"Ooh, magic wand." Wally waved his hands mockingly. "Let's cast some spells." He reached out to grab the cane at the same time Artemis did, and Megan shouted.

"Not again!"

Too late, the speedster and the archer once again grabbed Kent Nelson's cane, and Wally sighed before the two of them disappeared in a flash of light.

Robin shrugged. "Got quiet in here fast."

* * *

"Goody, goody!" Klarion cried, rubbing his hands together. "It's those kids again!"

Wally and Artemis exchanged a glance. "Again?" Wally mouthed. Artemis shrugged.

"Ah, excellent timing!" Kent Nelson exclaimed. Instantly, his staff shot out lightning, burning away the ropes binding his hands. Then he leapt through the optical illusion of staircases, landing beside the two teens with a smile. "Good to see you again, kid," he informed Wally, and then turned to Artemis. "He ask you out yet?"

"What?!"

"Kid," Nelson mused, "I'm going to have a talk with you," he told Wally before using his cane to open a door in the middle of the wall. The three climbed in at the same moment Klarion furiously fired a bolt of dark red magic at them, screeching all the while. The door closed, blocking it, and Kent Nelson turned back the redhead with a sigh.

"What'd I tell you about the spitfire? Ya find your own before she's taken."

Artemis leaned around the old man to glare at Wally, who raised his hands defensively.

"Wasn't me."

"Of course, you!" The former Doctor Fate sighed and shook his head. "Look here, kid. I know exactly what predicament you're in, here. You've swapped your superpowers, and you don't know how to get back."

"How'd you know?" Artemis asked incredulously.

"Well, for one thing, I remember from my own experience. And a second, don't think I've never travelled through dimensions before. It's all part of the gig. Finally, I also heard that witch-boy talking about it."

"But how would Klarion know unless he was involved?"

"Duh, Baywatch!" Artemis cuffed Wally on the top of the head, making Kent Nelson chuckle. "He WAS involved! He probably fabricated the whole thing himself!"

"Not by himself," Nelson corrected. "He's got a bit of a friend helping him out, from what I gather, but I haven't a clue whom it is."

The door opened suddenly, and the three looked up to see Robin, Conner, and Megan standing in the middle of yet another strange room of the Tower.

"Oh, look," Kent observed. "It's your friends."

"You okay?" Robin asked, but the next second, Abra Kadabra and Klarion appeared. The witch-boy was cackling madly.

"Oh, look," Artemis retorted. "It's YOUR friends."

Klarion cackled some more. "Hiya, kids!" he shouted. "Good to see you again!"

Kent Nelson tapped on the bell behind him, and then grabbed Artemis by the wrist and pulled her through. "ARTEMIS!" Wally shouted, but was interrupted by a blast of lightning from Abra Kadabra.

"She'll be fine, Wally!" Conner shouted. "But do something!"

Wally stared at the bell for a split second longer, before spinning back to the fake magician with a snarl. "Alright, and this time, I'll prove that magic ISN'T real."

* * *

Artemis spun to the century-old magician with a scowl. "Okay, where are we now, Nelson?"

"At the top of the Tower of Fate," he responded. "It's where I keep the helmet." He used his cane to motion toward the floating helmet, suspended in the air.

"Nice. Are you going to stand there or do something?"

Nelson was about to respond when Klarion materialized suddenly, cackling. Still. He threw out his hands, sending a blast of chaos magic flying toward the old man.

"LOOK OUT!"

Kent stumbled forward, and then turned and uttered a spell. A yellow globe appeared over him, Artemis, and the helmet, before he collapsed. "Mr. Nelson!" Artemis dropped to her knees beside the old man, trying not to panic.

"That should... hold him off... long enough for you to..."

"Oh my gosh, no, no, no, don't die on me!"

"Artemis!" Conner shouted telepathically. "Get that helmet! You have to do something now, before—"

"Conner? Conner!"

"I want that helmet!" Klarion screamed. "I want it, I want it, I want it, I want it, I want it, I want it, I want it!"

"A test of Fate?"

"Hey, kid! Didn't your boyfriend tell you what would happen if you put that on? You'll never get it off!"

_But Wally did get it off. I'll get it off again. I will._

"NO!"

Silence.

* * *

"Okay, wow. This is weird."

"What, didn't Kid tell you about what happened in here?" Kent Nelson asked, coming up behind Artemis.

"Seriously!" she yelped. "What is with everyone and the ninja thing? It's like, hey, look, there's Artemis, let's sneak up and scare the crap out of her!"

"I knew you were a spitfire," Nelson laughed softly. "I'll bet you're as stubborn as Kid."

"Sometimes more so." Artemis glanced around into the shadows past the circle of light around her. "So this is the Helmet of Fate, huh? Wally said you got sucked in, but he didn't really tell anyone anything else. Kind of kept it secret."

"Did he now?" Kent Nelson mused. "I knew he would."

"But what's happening outside?"

"Well, you want to see?"

* * *

"Order went out of fashion last century, Nabu!" Klarion screamed. "I'm going to get that helmet, once and for all!"

Artemis's long yellow hair flowed from beneath the helmet in waves. The costume of Doctor Fate formed around her body, and she even held herself in her strong, confident pose, with both arms tensed and ready to draw her weapons.

But she was not there.

"You and I both know that it is no use to pretend that we are real. We are only figments of the imagination in the minds of the partners of the Justice League. We are necessary for the false reality you have created to exist."

"Oh, I can't take credit for that," Klarion insisted. "That was all the Martian's fault! He's the one who created it."

"But you recreated it for you own purposes."

"What can I say? Seeing them with their powers mixed up is so... chaotic." Klarion smirked and rubbed his hands together. "You missed all the fun!"

If Nabu could roll his eyes, he probably would.

"And then you inserted yourself into the reality for the sole purpose of seeing your chaos at work."

"I wasn't about to miss the show!"

"You will disassemble this alternate universe now!"

"Oh, I didn't make it alone." Klarion pretended to examine his black fingernails mockingly. "I had a little friend. Well, not friend. He's really very annoying. But he's the only one who can do anything now."

The cat meowed loudly, making the witch-boy scowl. "Shut up, Teekl."

* * *

"Uh, aren't they going to fight?"

"Ah, wouldn't do him any good. The only thing Klarion would be fighting for is the Helmet, and if we're in a false reality, as Nabu says we are, he can't exactly take it out with him."

"So now what? We just sit here and wait until they're done bickering?"

Kent Nelson began to laugh. "I definitely underestimated you, Spitfire. Well, I suppose the correct answer would be yes. Until they're done, and Klarion has released you from the reality, or forced his buddy to do the same, Nabu will just keep after him to do it."

"Why do you keep calling me Spitfire? What's a spitfire?"

"Well, it's a girl or a woman who's got that no-nonsense attitude. One who'll whoop their man's butt for his foolishness." Kent Nelson smiled fondly as he pulled out a pocket-watch and snapped it open, gazing at the photograph of the woman inside. "My Inza was a spitfire."

"...She's very beautiful," Artemis admitted softly.

"Well, so're you. I just hope Kid sees it sooner rather than later."

"Kid? Isn't that what you keep calling Wally?"

"Yep, stubborn little ginger, isn't he?"

"Stubborn, yes. Ginger, yes. Little? If we're talking about his ego, not so much."

"Ah, you like him anyway," Kent Nelson accused teasingly.

"WHAT?!"

* * *

"Release, them, Klarion. Now!"

"Whoops!" Klarion glanced down at his bare wrist mockingly. "Look at the time, Nabu! You've made me very late. Have fun with your little host body!"

"KLARION!"

"Bye-bye!"

* * *

"Oh, yay, he's gone. Hey, Nabu, can I get out now?"

A likeness of the helmet appeared before Artemis and Kent Nelson. Artemis raised her eyebrows before Nabu's voice echoed through the room.

"Klarion is gone for now. He has left this reality, and will not cause trouble any time in the near future. But he will return."

"He always does," Artemis sighed. "He's like a bad cold."

"But far more dangerous," Kent Nelson added.

"I shall release you from my power, but only if you will assist Kid Flash in his task to find me a permanent host body in the real world."

Wally had to do what now?

"I will."

White sparkles of dust materialized from the ground, as Kent Nelson gave Artemis a huge smile. "A spitfire needs nonsense, so find yourself a ginger who'll give you

some."

"But your spitfire didn't find a ginger."

"The hair grays with age, goof. But like I said. Find a—"

* * *

"Artemis!"

The blond glanced up to see the rest of the Team, staring at her. "He let you out," Wally gasped. "Artemis, don't you ever, ever, ever put on that helmet again, do you hear me?! Never! If you do, so help me, I will kill you myself!"

"You'd have to get through Nabu first," Artemis scoffed.

"Did you meet Kent Nelson?" Megan asked curiously.

"Yeah. He kept jabbering something about a spitfire."

Wally paled, and then blushed, and then paled again.

"Listen," Artemis began. "There's something you guys should know. While I was in the helmet, and with Kent Nelson, I learned a few things about our little... situation."

"The power swap," Conner replied, eyes narrowed.

"Exactly."

"Like what?" Robin asked.

"First and foremost, everything that's happened isn't real."

* * *

**A/N Mwahaha! Cliffhanger evilness... I just like the chaos it causes.**

**Klarion: *appears in whirlwind of chaos magic* I helped! And admit it! You've always wanted to see what would have happened if that stupid archer girl were trapped in the helmet!**

**Me: *blasts Klarion away with the power of the backspace key* So now we have a villain! Things should start coming together now, but I have no plans on finishing the story with, like, the next chapter or anything. That would be no fun. After all, BEREFT, for gosh's sake...**

**Reviews are strangely inspirational. Just sayin'.**


	18. Home In The Depths

**A/N With much craziness comes much craziness. Therefore I did not update. Very sorry.**

**Disclaimer: I can't even update my fanfics regularly. What makes you think I could write, design, animate, voice, direct, and produce a TV show?**

* * *

"I need to speak with Aqualad. The rest of you, hit the showers and head home."

Robin tensed as Batman's order met his ears. Artemis, Megan, Wally, and Conner flashed him sympathetic glances as they left, unintentionally tracking mud through the room. Kaldur stayed by his side, until the Dark Knight added, "Just Aqualad."

Kaldur looked confused for a moment before inhaling softly, turning on his heel, and leaving.

"Way to help a guy out, Kal," Robin thought to himself. Aloud, he said, "Sorry you had to intervene. I know the Team performed poorly—"

"The Team performed adequately. The problem was you. You're their leader, and your head wasn't in the game."

Robin's mind flashed back to his thoughts in the moments before battle, wincing inwardly. He couldn't tell Batman what was really going on. "I guess, I mean, I suppose my thoughts were simply elsewhere. Thinking about home."

"You can split your time between here and Atlantis, but not your mind. Either you're here one hundred percent or you need to walk away." The Dark Knight turned away, and if Robin hadn't known him so well, he would not have known that an inaudible sigh passed his lips. "Take some time off. Visit home. Do what you need to do, but make a decision, Dikel. And make it soon."

"Thanks. I mean, thank you."

With a whir of the zeta-tube, Batman left.

Kaldur appeared from where he had been hiding around a corner, at which Robin was slightly surprised, as even Batman apparently hadn't known he was there. Robin sure hadn't.

"I take it that you are not thinking about Atlantis."

"Eh, no."

"Then what?"

"I really, really, really miss my home life." Robin was careful to choose his words in such a way that would give no indication of his and Batman's real identities. "Out of costume, Batman is technically my dad. I miss that side of him, the one that's not Batman, but his secret identity. You know? I miss my home, and also hacking, but mostly my home."

"I understand," Kaldur admitted. "Just as you miss your home, I miss mine. Unfortunately, my new physique will not permit me to survive in the underwater environment. I can no longer even visit discreetly."

"Hey, Kaldur." Robin reached up to put a hand on his teammate's shoulder. "Hey, I understand, too, okay? Just stay traught. We'll get out of this, soon. Now that we know Klarion has something to do with it, we finally have a lead, and we can go from there."

"I know." Kaldur nodded at the younger boy with a smile. "And by the way, you do not have to keep Batman's identity secret. I have been living in the manor for more than a month now. I did attempt to keep it hidden from myself at first, but it was not hard to put two and two together once I saw him out of costume."

Robin grinned. "Whoops. Don't tell the others?"

"I would not dare... Dick."

"Ha, ha."

There was a pause before Robin sighed. "In the meantime, though, I guess I kind of have to go to Atlantis, huh? Batman's orders."

Kaldur paled slightly. "Whatever you do, do not destroy the city, I beg you."

"Relax, Kal! I haven't destroyed Wayne Tower or Wayne Manor yet, have I? No! I won't destroy Atlantis."

"Note that you have not destroyed Wayne Tower or Wayne Manor YET."

"Seriously? You're acting really chalant. Calm down!"

"I am Aqualad. I am always calm."

"Correction! I am Aqualad; I am always calm."

* * *

"Left, no, right, no, left! Augh!"

Artemis frantically mashed the controller with super-speed, mentally cursing her opponent. To her right, Wally calmly and methodically pressed a series of buttons, initiating a series of strikes and punches from his character. On his face was a smirk frighteningly similar to one that Robin might give.

"WHY ARE YOU SO HARD TO HIT?!"

"I keep dodging," was Wally's answer. "You don't play video games a lot, do you?"

"No time to. Assassin-in-training, remember?"

"Yeah, but, like, once in a while wouldn't be bad for you." Wally motioned with his chin to the screen. "So you picked Girl Flash?"

Artemis scowled, still mashing. "You got a problem with that?" she asked. She stopped smashing long enough to flip her wet bangs from her face, and then frantically resumed.

"No. I just think it's weird that Girl Flash is a character, even though Girl Flash technically doesn't exist."

"Yeah, well, technically, you're about to die."

"Artemis? That's not my life bar. That's yours."

"Hrmph." Artemis gave another mash of buttons, snorting when she kicked air instead of face. "Real combat is so much easier."

"And way more realistic," Wally added. "Since Girl Flash is Kid Flash, Girl Flash has all the capabilities of Kid Flash. And Kid Flash could take down Robin any day."

"You mean Sparrow."

"You know what I mean. Stop using super-speed. You'll break the controller."

"Ugh! Why can't I use the advanced attack?!"

"X-X-A. It's a series of buttons."

"Which one's X?"

"Top button on the right side of the controller. Whoop, too late."

The screen blinked Artemis's defeat as the former archer scowled again. "Why are you playing this game with me instead of Robin again?"

"We tried." Wally flipped through new characters, eventually selecting Red Tornado. "As it turns out, the webbed fingers aren't flexible enough to let him move his thumbs quickly."

"But he can type."

"His thumbs stay on the spacebar. They don't have to move around as much. Also, he has a habit of yelling Romani whenever he makes a bad move, and RT was just freaking out about that."

Artemis tried to picture the android hero having a panic attack, but frowned at the inability. "Robin learned to speak Romani?"

Wally blinked. "Uh... yeah. Let's just go with, yeah."

At that moment, however, Robin himself entered the room. Wally saw him out of the corner of his eye and waved. "Hey, Rob," he greeted. "What's new?"

"How about the fact that you're playing video games with Artemis?" Robin quizzed, leaning his elbows on the back of the couch that his two friends occupied. "A little unexpected, but okay."

Artemis selected Wally's last character, Sparrow, as her avatar, which, she reasoned, had been the one Wally used to beat her last time, so Sparrow was a good choice, right? "I'm bored, and I needed to talk to him."

"Speedster stuff?"

"Sort of." Artemis shrugged. The screen meanwhile flashed the word "GO" at her, so she instantly hit the advanced attack moves. "X-X-A..."

"You can't use a super move until you gain more points from using regular moves," Robin sighed. "Give me that." Swiftly, he snatched the controller from Artemis's hands, simultaneously pressing pause.

"HEY!" Wally made a grab, but Robin dodged as the redhead missed his tackle and sprawled to the floor. "Ow. I thought you don't like to play video games with those thumbs?"

"I'm not playing." Robin handed the remote back to Artemis. Artemis hit play, forcing Wally to throw his arms over the back of the couch and play from behind her.

"I was winning that, you know! Wait! WHY IS SHE GLOWING BLUE? YOU HACKED THE GAME AND GAVE HER A POWER-UP?!"

"Duh, yeah. You were kicking the poor girl's butt."

"WHY ARE YOU EVEN MY FRIEND?!"

"Come on, Wally." Robin flipped over the back of the couch, landing comfortably in Wally's seat with a contented sigh. "She's not even a challenge, at least not in video games."

"SHE'S PLAYING AS YOU!"

"Technically, she's playing as Kaldur," Robin pointed out. "Anyway. I have a problem, and I was wondering if you guys had any ideas to help me out."

Artemis flipped her hair out of her face again, cocking her head at the game, which she was now winning. Epically. "Shoot."

"Shooting jokes are dumb coming from an archer," Wally huffed.

"You're just mad because you're getting beat by a button-smasher."

"Anyway. I have to go to Atlantis."

Silence followed, broken only by the sound of Red Tornado landing a solid blow on Sparrow and Sparrow's stumbling footsteps.

"Weren't you just IN Atlantis before the Fourth of July?" Artemis quizzed.

"Batman says."

"Since when do you do what Batman says?" Wally snorted.

"Since I am no longer Robin, but Aqualad," Robin replied. "Your charge meters are full."

Wally hit his X-X-A a half-second sooner than Artemis, smirking madly when Red Tornado sent his super-move spinning and whirling toward Sparrow.

"O-kay. So go to Atlantis."

"Why?"

"Why not?"

"Because I can't speak Atlantean, I don't know anything about Atlantean customs, the magic is way over my head, and Kaldur's probably going to fail my math class. THAT is 'why not'."

"Yeah, well, I don't speak Vietnamese. You don't see me trying to get out of going to Artemis's house every night to avoid her mom."

"Nor do I WANT to learn to speak the West language," Artemis added. "By the way, who is Jay Garrick and why are we celebrating his birthday?"

"That's a story for after we've solved this problem," Wally sighed. This time, Wally was the one defeated, and Sparrow did a victory dance on-screen that made his jaw drop.

"Kaldur would never do that. I don't think there's even such a thing as an Atlantean dance, and if there is, that is not it."

"Have you ever even been to Atlantis?" Robin quizzed.

"Are we talking 'been there', as in, I saw that place for a second, or, 'been there', as in, I purposefully travelled there to visit?" Wally asked in reply, absently tossing his controller into Artemis's lap. "I accidentally took the zeta to Atlantis once instead of Central City, but I swam right back through."

Artemis threw the controller back and conked Wally's head. "How do ACCIDENTALLY travel through a teleporter?"

Wally scowled at the offending remote, picking it up again and laying on the table in front of him. "You'd be surprised. So technically, I have been to Atlantis, but I couldn't stay long or I'd drown."

"Anyway," Robin repeated—again, in hopes that maybe this time his friends wouldn't get off-subject—"should I actually go to Atlantis or just pretend or something?"

"Uh huh, because Batman would NEVER figure out that you faked visiting Atlantis," Artemis scoffed. "Your best bet is to just go. Talk fancy, spend a day or so, check it out, and just hang around."

"Ditto," Wally decided. "That's what I've been doing at Artemis's mom's house, and what she's been doing at mine. Just go with the flow. Ha, ha, see what I did there?"

Artemis cuffed him. "Anyway. Did you talk to Kaldur about it?"

"Yeah, he agrees that it's probably for the best that I go. Turns out he also knows my secret identity now, but that's not important. At least, not right now."

"Alright, then." Wally shrugged, tucking his hands behind his head. "The vote's unanimous."

"He didn't ask Conner and M'gann."

"Conner and M'gann aren't Atlantean. Wait, why are you even asking the two of us? You know what, forget it."

Robin just rolled his eyes. "Okay, thanks for the advice. See ya." And just like that, his Bat roots kicked in sure and true—he evaporated into the air without a second thought.

"Speaking of advice," Artemis added, "who is Jay Garrick and why is he so important that we celebrate his birthday?"

* * *

**A/N Next chap is going to be pretty long, I think. So it should make up for this one's shortness and the long wait. You know the drill; Acty out.**


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